NURE data collection and evaluation strategies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Horton, R.C.

1977-01-01

Collection and evaluation strategies used in the National Uranium Resource Evaluation program are described. Hydrogeochemical, airborne radiometric and magnetic, and field geology data are collected in every quadrangle. Topical studies, modeling, and classification and recognition criteria are required for assessment--the final estimate of tons of uranium. The evaluation of quadrangles has been divided into three phases: Phase I, prefield work; Phase II, field work; Phase III, report and map preparation. All evaluators--the U.S. Geological Survey, state surveys, private subcontractors and Bendix--will follow identical procedures. This is not to say that all quadrangles are identical, or that identical techniques will be applied to, or identical data recovered from, each quadrangle

Evaluation of alternative MGDS development strategies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roberds, W.; Miller, I.; Caldwell, D.

1991-01-01

A methodology has been developed to explicitly and quantitatively evaluate acceptable alternative repository development strategies, in terms of the degree to which they are likely to satisfy a specified set of system objectives (e.g., minimizing overall costs through closure, time to initial waste receipt and long-term health effects). An open-quotes acceptableclose quotes strategy is one which has a high likelihood of satisfying specified system functions and requirements. Simple but comprehensive system models have been developed to estimate the relevant consequences of any strategy, explicitly considering system uncertainties and contingencies, including the possibility of finding the site to be unsuitable and having to develop a repository elsewhere. Such open-quotes technical assessments,close quotes which are appropriately developed by technical experts, can then be combined with separate open-quotes value judgementsclose quotes regarding preferences and tradeoffs among the consequences, which are appropriately determined by the decision makers/stake holders (rather than by the technical experts) in order to explicitly determine preferences among the acceptable strategies. Implementation of the methodology has been demonstrated by example

Methods of Evaluating Performances for Marketing Strategies

OpenAIRE

Ioan Cucu

2005-01-01

There are specific methods for assessing and improving the effectiveness of a marketing strategy. A marketer should state in the marketing plan what a marketing strategy is supposed to accomplish. These statements should set forth performance standards, which usually are stated in terms of profits, sales, or costs. Actual performance must be measured in similar terms so that comparisons are possible. This paper describes sales analysis and cost analysis, two general ways of evaluating the act...

AN EVALUATION OF RISK MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES FOR DAIRY FARMS

OpenAIRE

Bosch, Darrell J.; Johnson, Christian J.

1992-01-01

Variability in feed prices and crop yields are important sources of risk to dairy farmers. A simulation model of a representative dairy farm was used to evaluate crop insurance and hedging as risk management strategies. These strategies lowered expected net returns but also reduced risk. The preferred set of strategies at lower levels of risk aversion included hedging and crop insurance, although a base scenario in which no risk management strategies were employed was also efficient. The pref...

Verification and Performance Evaluation of Timed Game Strategies

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

David, Alexandre; Fang, Huixing; Larsen, Kim Guldstrand

2014-01-01

Control synthesis techniques, based on timed games, derive strategies to ensure a given control objective, e.g., time-bounded reachability. Model checking verifies correctness properties of systems. Statistical model checking can be used to analyse performance aspects of systems, e.g., energy...... consumption. In this work, we propose to combine these three techniques. In particular, given a strategy synthesized for a timed game and a given control objective, we want to make a deeper examination of the consequences of adopting this strategy. Firstly, we want to apply model checking to the timed game...... under the synthesized strategy in order to verify additional correctness properties. Secondly, we want to apply statistical model checking to evaluate various performance aspects of the synthesized strategy. For this, the underlying timed game is extended with relevant price and stochastic information...

The Dynamic Evaluation of Enterprise's Strategy Based on Rough Set Theory

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

刘恒江; 陈继祥

2003-01-01

This paper presents dynamic evaluation of enterprise's strategy which is suitable for dealing with the complex and dynamic problems of strategic evaluation. Rough Set Theory is a powerful mathematical tool to handle vagueness and uncertainty of dynamic evaluation. By the application of Rough Set Theory, this paper computes the significance and weights of each evaluation criterion and helps to lay evaluation emphasis on the main and effective criteria. From the reduced decision table,evaluators can get decision rules Which direct them to give judgment or suggestion of strategy. The whole evaluation process is decided by data, so the results are certain and reasonable.

Parking management : strategies, evaluation and planning

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Litman, T.A.

2006-01-01

Parking facilities are a major cost to society. Current planning practices are based on the assumption that parking should be abundant and provided free, with costs borne indirectly. This report examined parking management strategies related to integrated parking plans. Problems with current parking planning practices were reviewed. The costs of parking facilities were examined, as well as the savings that can accrue from improved management techniques. Strategies included shared parking; remote parking and shuttle services; walking and cycling improvements; improved enforcement and control; and increasing the capacity of existing parking facilities. Parking pricing methods, financial incentives and parking tax reforms were reviewed. Issues concerning user information and marketing were examined. Overflow parking plans were evaluated. Three illustrative examples of parking management programs were outlined, along with details of implementation, planning and evaluation procedures. It was concluded that cost-effective parking management programs can often reduce parking requirements by 20 to 40 per cent compared with conventional planning requirements, in addition to providing economic, social and environmental benefits. 32 refs., 7 tabs., 3 figs

Identification and evaluation of PWR in-vessel severe accident management strategies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dukelow, J.S.; Harrison, D.G.; Morgenstern, M.

1992-03-01

This reports documents work performed the NRC/RES Accident Management Guidance Program to evaluate possible strategies for mitigating the consequences of PWR severe accidents. The selection and evaluation of strategies was limited to the in-vessel phase of the severe accident, i.e., after the initiation of core degradation and prior to RPV failure. A parallel project at BNL has been considering strategies applicable to the ex-vessel phase of PWR severe accidents

Practical strategies for nursing education program evaluation.

Science.gov (United States)

Lewallen, Lynne Porter

2015-01-01

Self-evaluation is required for institutions of higher learning and the nursing programs within them. The literature provides information on evaluation models and instruments, and descriptions of how specific nursing education programs are evaluated. However, there are few discussions in the nursing education literature of the practical aspects of nursing education program evaluation: how to get started, how to keep track of data, who to involve in data collection, and how to manage challenging criteria. This article discusses the importance of program evaluation in the academic setting and provides information on practical ways to organize the evaluation process and aggregate data, and strategies for gathering data from students, graduates, alumni, and employers of graduates. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Evaluating the Legitimacy of Contemporary Legal Strategies for Obesity.

Science.gov (United States)

Morain, Stephanie

2015-12-01

Contemporary legal strategies for obesity raise troubling questions regarding individual liberty and the legitimate scope of public health authority. This article argues that the predominant approach to assessing public health legitimacy--John Stuart Mill's "harm principle"--may be unsuitable for evaluating the legitimacy of legal strategies for obesity. The article proposes an alternative test for assessing the legitimate scope of public health authority: John Rawls's liberal principle of legitimacy. It outlines how Rawls's principle would evaluate obesity policies, and contrasts this evaluation to that of Mill. The alternative test avoids some of the limitations of the Millian approach, and may offer an improved mechanism for assessing the liberty effects of policies for obesity and other public health activities.

Economic Evaluations of Strategies to Prevent Hospital-Acquired Pressure Injuries.

Science.gov (United States)

Ocampo, Wrechelle; Cheung, Amanda; Baylis, Barry; Clayden, Nancy; Conly, John M; Ghali, William A; Ho, Chester H; Kaufman, Jaime; Stelfox, Henry T; Hogan, David B

2017-07-01

To provide information from a review of literature about economic evaluations of preventive strategies for pressure injuries (PIs). This continuing education activity is intended for physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, and nurses with an interest in skin and wound care. After participating in this educational activity, the participant should be better able to:1. Identify the purpose and methods used for this study.2. Compare costs and effectiveness related to preventative strategies for PIs. BACKGROUND: Pressure injuries (PIs) are a common and resource-intensive challenge for acute care hospitals worldwide. While a number of preventive strategies have the potential to reduce the cost of hospital-acquired PIs, it is unclear what approach is the most effective. The authors performed a narrative review of the literature on economic evaluations of preventive strategies to survey current findings and identify important factors in economic assessments. Ovid, MEDLINE, NHS Economic Evaluation Databases, and the Cochrane Database of Systematic ReviewsSELECTION CRITERIA: Potentially relevant original research articles and systematic reviews were considered. Selection criteria included articles that were written in English, provided data on cost or economic evaluations of preventive strategies of PIs in acute care, and published between January 2004 and September 2015. Data were abstracted from the articles using a standardized approach to evaluate how the items on the Consolidated Health Economic Evaluation Reporting Standards checklist were addressed. The searches identified 192 references. Thirty-three original articles were chosen for full-text reviews. Nineteen of these articles provided clear descriptions of interventions, study methods, and outcomes considered. Limitations in the available literature prevent firm conclusions from being reached about the relative economic merits of the various approaches to the prevention of PIs. The authors' review

Review and Evaluation of Reservoir Management Strategies for Harmful Algal Blooms

Science.gov (United States)

2017-07-28

Abstract The purpose of this report is to review and evaluate available infor- mation regarding reservoir operation strategies for management of...12 3 Operations Management Examples ............................................................................ 16...report is to review and evaluate available information regarding reservoir operation strategies for management of harmful algal ERDC/EL TR-17-11 2

A national evaluation of community-based mental health strategies in Finland.

Science.gov (United States)

Vähäniemi, Anu; Warwick-Smith, Katja; Hätönen, Heli; Välimäki, Maritta

2018-02-01

High-quality mental health care requires written strategies to set a vision for the future, yet, there is limited systematic information available on the monitoring and evaluation of such strategies. The aim of this nationwide study is to evaluate local mental health strategies in community-based mental health services provided by municipalities. Mental health strategy documents were gathered through an online search and an e-mail survey of the local authorities of all Finnish mainland municipalities (n = 320). Out of 320 municipalities, documents for 129 municipalities (63 documents) were included in the study. The documents obtained (n = 63) were evaluated against the World Health Organization checklist for mental health strategies and policies. Evaluation of the process, operations and content of the documents, against 31 indicators in the checklist. Out of 320 Finnish municipalities, 40% (n = 129) had a mental health strategy document available and 33% (n = 104) had a document that was either in preparation or being updated. In these documents, priorities, targets and activities were clearly described. Nearly all (99%) of the documents suggested a commitment to preventative work, and 89% mentioned a dedication to developing community-based care. The key shortfalls identified were the lack of consideration of human rights (0%), the limited consideration of research (5%) and the lack of financial planning (28%) to successfully execute the plans. Of the documents obtained, 60% covered both mental health and substance abuse issues. This study contributes to the limited evidence base on health care strategy evaluations. Further research is needed to understand the potential impact of policy analysis. © The Author(s) 2017. Published by Oxford University Press in association with the International Society for Quality in Health Care. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com

A critical evaluation of the strategy project

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Howard, B.J.; Liland, A.

2003-01-01

Full text: Experience after the Chernobyl accident has shown that remediation strategies need to consider a wide range of different issues to ensure the long-term sustainability of radioactively contaminated areas. The STRATEGY project (Sustainable Restoration And Long-Term Management Of Contaminated Rural, Urban And Industrial Ecosystems (www.strategy-ec.org.uk) had the overall objective of establishing a holistic decision framework for the selection of optimal remediation strategies for long-term sustainable management of contaminated areas in Western Europe. The project carried out a critical evaluation of a series of countermeasures and waste disposal options including a consideration of their technical feasibility and practicality and whether they (i) incur considerable direct or side-effect costs; (ii) have significant environmental side effects; and (iii) are acceptable to society. A main output was a comprehensive, documented evaluation of more than 100 countermeasures (in the form of standardized templates) that would be relevant for off-site nuclear emergency management in the mid to long term. Stakeholder participation is an important mechanism to explore these additional benefits or disadvantages to the use of countermeasures, and is an essential step in developing a decision framework which avoids problems previously experienced in emergency management. Close liaison with the FARMING stakeholder network facilitated evaluation of countermeasure templates for rural ecosystems. Stakeholder opinion suggested that some countermeasures were as likely to be rejected an socio-ethical grounds as technical and economic grounds. Rejection of specific countermeasures would be expected to show site, context and national differences. Suitable approaches for successfully communicating with a wide range of stakeholders were explored. The way in which countermeasure evaluation and selection is carried out is particularly relevant for ethical evaluation of remediation

A framework provided an outline toward the proper evaluation of potential screening strategies.

Science.gov (United States)

Adriaensen, Wim J; Matheï, Cathy; Buntinx, Frank J; Arbyn, Marc

2013-06-01

Screening tests are often introduced into clinical practice without proper evaluation, despite the increasing awareness that screening is a double-edged sword that can lead to either net benefits or harms. Our objective was to develop a comprehensive framework for the evaluation of new screening strategies. Elaborating on the existing concepts proposed by experts, a stepwise framework is proposed to evaluate whether a potential screening test can be introduced as a screening strategy into clinical practice. The principle of screening strategy evaluation is illustrated for cervical cancer, which is a template for screening because of the existence of an easily detectable and treatable precursor lesion. The evaluation procedure consists of six consecutive steps. In steps 1-4, the technical accuracy, place of the test in the screening pathway, diagnostic accuracy, and longitudinal sensitivity and specificity of the screening test are assessed. In steps 5 and 6, the impact of the screening strategy on the patient and population levels, respectively, is evaluated. The framework incorporates a harm and benefit trade-off and cost-effectiveness analysis. Our framework provides an outline toward the proper evaluation of potential screening strategies before considering implementation. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Evaluation of Cost Leadership Strategy in Shipping Enterprises with Simulation Model

Science.gov (United States)

Ferfeli, Maria V.; Vaxevanou, Anthi Z.; Damianos, Sakas P.

2009-08-01

The present study will attempt the evaluation of cost leadership strategy that prevails in certain shipping enterprises and the creation of simulation models based on strategic model STAIR. The above model is an alternative method of strategic applications evaluation. This is held in order to be realised if the strategy of cost leadership creates competitive advantage [1] and this will be achieved via the technical simulation which appreciates the interactions between the operations of an enterprise and the decision-making strategy in conditions of uncertainty with reduction of undertaken risk.

Building evaluation capacity in Ontario's public health units: promising practices and strategies.

Science.gov (United States)

Bourgeois, I; Simmons, L; Buetti, D

2018-03-26

This article presents the findings of a project focusing on building evaluation capacity in 10 Ontario public health units. The study sought to identify effective strategies that lead to increased evaluation capacity in the participating organizations. This study used a qualitative, multiple case research design. An action research methodology was used to design customized evaluation capacity building (ECB) strategies for each participating organization, based on its specific context and needs. This methodological approach also enabled monitoring and assessment of each strategy, based on a common set of reporting templates. A multiple case study was used to analyze the findings from the 10 participating organizations and derive higher level findings. The main findings of the study show that most of the strategies used to increase evaluation capacity in public health units are promising, especially those focusing on developing the knowledge, skills, and attitudes of health unit staff and managers. Facilitators to ECB strategies were the engagement of all staff members, the support of leadership, and the existence of organizational tools and infrastructure to support evaluation. It is also essential to recognize that ECB takes time and resources to be successful. The design and implementation of ECB strategies should be based on organizational needs. These can be assessed using a standardized instrument, as well as interviews and staff surveys. The implementation of a multicomponent approach (i.e. several strategies implemented simultaneously) is also linked to better ECB outcomes in organizations. Copyright © 2018 The Royal Society for Public Health. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A Pragmatic Approach to Guide Implementation Evaluation Research: Strategy Mapping for Complex Interventions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alexis K. Huynh

2018-05-01

Full Text Available IntroductionGreater specification of implementation strategies is a challenge for implementation science, but there is little guidance for delineating the use of multiple strategies involved in complex interventions. The Cardiovascular (CV Toolkit project entails implementation of a toolkit designed to reduce CV risk by increasing women’s engagement in appropriate services. The CV Toolkit project follows an enhanced version of Replicating Effective Programs (REP, an evidence-based implementation strategy, to implement the CV Toolkit across four phases: pre-conditions, pre-implementation, implementation, and maintenance and evolution. Our current objective is to describe a method for mapping implementation strategies used in real time as part of the CV Toolkit project. This method supports description of the timing and content of bundled strategies and provides a structured process for developing a plan for implementation evaluation.MethodsWe conducted a process of strategy mapping to apply Proctor and colleagues’ rubric for specification of implementation strategies, constructing a matrix in which we identified each implementation strategy, its conceptual group, and the corresponding REP phase(s in which it occurs. For each strategy, we also specified the actors involved, actions undertaken, action targets, dose of the implementation strategy, and anticipated outcome addressed. We iteratively refined the matrix with the implementation team, including use of simulation to provide initial validation.ResultsMapping revealed patterns in the timing of implementation strategies within REP phases. Most implementation strategies involving the development of stakeholder interrelationships and training and educating stakeholders were introduced during the pre-conditions or pre-implementation phases. Strategies introduced in the maintenance and evolution phase emphasized communication, re-examination, and audit and feedback. In addition to its value

MARKETING STRATEGY OF THE UNIVERSITY: FORMATION AND ITS EFFECTIVENESS EVALUATION REALIZATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Natalia К. Shemetova

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The study is aimed at developing an algorithm of formation of university’s marketing strategy and the development of evaluating methods of its effectiveness realization. Despite the competitive expansion of the educational services market and the transition to a system of university self-financing, researchers have not paid due attention to the process of developing the marketing strategy of the university and the evaluation of its effectiveness yet. Methods. The applied methods include the method of general systems theory, and the complex of specialized marketing tools (PEST-, SNWand SWOT-analysis. Results. The algorithm of university’s marketing strategy formation and methodology for its effectiveness assessing is given in five fields: economic, informational, social, integration, and demand stage. The set of criteria is worked out for every field listed above. The author has developed a formula for determining the total indicator or general index of the effectiveness of university’s marketing strategy. Scientific novelty. The prospects of using the algorithm of formation of university’s marketing strategy and the system of monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of marketing in higher vocational education was proved and evaluated by the author in the Ural Institute of Management of RANEPA. Practical significance. The research results can be used by the experts in the field of management of the higher educational institutions, and also as teaching materials while preparing the experts in marketing. 

Lessons Learned in Evaluating a Multisite, Comprehensive Teen Dating Violence Prevention Strategy: Design and Challenges of the Evaluation of Dating Matters: Strategies to Promote Healthy Teen Relationships.

Science.gov (United States)

Niolon, Phyllis Holditch; Taylor, Bruce G; Latzman, Natasha E; Vivolo-Kantor, Alana M; Valle, Linda Anne; Tharp, Andra T

2016-03-01

This paper describes the multisite, longitudinal cluster randomized controlled trial (RCT) design of the evaluation of the Dating Matters: Strategies to Promote Healthy Relationships initiative, and discusses challenges faced in conducting this evaluation. Health departments in 4 communities are partnering with middle schools in high-risk, urban communities to implement 2 models of teen dating violence (TDV) prevention over 4 years. Schools were randomized to receive either the Dating Matters comprehensive strategy or the "standard of care" strategy (an existing, evidence-based TDV prevention curriculum). Our design permits comparison of the relative effectiveness of the comprehensive and standard of care strategies. Multiple cohorts of students from 46 middle schools are surveyed in middle school and high school, and parents and educators from participating schools are also surveyed. Challenges discussed in conducting a multisite RCT include site variability, separation of implementation and evaluation responsibilities, school retention, parent engagement in research activities, and working within the context of high-risk urban schools and communities. We discuss the strengths and weaknesses of our approaches to these challenges in the hopes of informing future research. Despite multiple challenges, the design of the Dating Matters evaluation remains strong. We hope this paper provides researchers who are conducting complex evaluations of behavioral interventions with thoughtful discussion of the challenges we have faced and potential solutions to such challenges.

Forensic Evaluation of Deaf Individuals: Challenges and Strategies.

Science.gov (United States)

Pollard, Robert Q; Berlinski, Brian T

2017-01-01

Forensic evaluation of deaf individuals presents unique challenges due to many examinees' fund of information deficits, potential for language deprivation, and examiners' frequent lack of creativity regarding communication methods. This article describes challenges most frequently encountered in competency to stand trial and criminal responsibility evaluations and offers strategies for overcoming them. The value of employing multiple communication methods, especially the use of illustrations, is emphasized. Suggestions also are offered regarding preparing evaluation reports and effectively communicating "key deaf fundamentals" to legal personnel. Encouragement is offered for qualified, sign-fluent professionals to engage in forensic work.

MARKETING STRATEGY OF THE UNIVERSITY: FORMATION AND ITS EFFECTIVENESS EVALUATION REALIZATION

OpenAIRE

Natalia К. Shemetova

2015-01-01

The study is aimed at developing an algorithm of formation of university’s marketing strategy and the development of evaluating methods of its effectiveness realization. Despite the competitive expansion of the educational services market and the transition to a system of university self-financing, researchers have not paid due attention to the process of developing the marketing strategy of the university and the evaluation of its effectiveness yet. Methods. The applied methods include the m...

INDUSTRIAL EVALUATION OF RE-DRY STRATEGY FOR SOFTWOOD LUMBER

OpenAIRE

Elustondo, Diego; Avramidis, Stavros

2005-01-01

This paper presents an experimental evaluation of the first commercial scale dry-sort-redry (DSRD) strategy for drying of 2x4 Pacific coast hemlock (PCH) lumber. The DSRD strategy is a methodology designed to reduce final moisture content variability in kiln dried lumber by complementing conventional drying with radio frequency vacuum (RFV) drying technology. The strategy′s objective is to avoid producing over-dried lumber in conventional drying by setting the target moisture content to...

Evaluation of teaching and learning strategies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

SK Lechner

2001-08-01

Full Text Available With the growing awareness of the importance of teaching and learning in universities and the need to move towards evidence-based teaching, it behooves the professions to re-examine their educational research methodology. While the what, how and why of student learning have become more explicit, the professions still struggle to find valid methods of evaluating the explosion of new innovation in teaching/learning strategies. This paper discusses the problems inherent in applying traditional experimental design techniques to advances in educational practice.

Tit-For-Tat Strategy for Increasing Medical Student Evaluation Response Rates

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Matthew G. Malone

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Introducation It is essential for faculty to receive feedback on their teaching for the purpose of improvement as well as promotion. It can be challenging to motivate students to provide feedback to preceptors and fill out evaluation forms when not a clerkship requirement. Furthermore, there is concern that making the evaluations a requirement can compromise the quality of the feedback. The objective of this study was to identify an increase in the number of faculty and resident evaluations completed by students rotating through their Emergency Medicine clerkship following the implementation of a tit-for-tat incentive strategy. Method Prior to the implementation of Tit-for-Tat, students rotating through their emergency medicine clerkship were asked to fill out evaluations of residents and faculty members with whom they worked. These were encouraged but voluntary. Beginning in the 2014–2015 academic year, a tit-for-tat strategy was employed whereby students had to complete a resident or faculty evaluation in order to view the student assessment completed by that resident or faculty preceptor. Results Students submitted 1101 evaluations in the control, with a mean of 3.60 evaluations completed per student and 3.77 evaluations received per preceptor. Following the implementation of tit-for-tat, students submitted 2736 evaluations, with a mean of 8.19 evaluations completed per student and 7.52 evaluations received per preceptor. Both the increase in evaluations completed per student and evaluations received per preceptor were statistically significant with p-value <0.001. Conclusion The tit-for-tat strategy significantly increased the number of evaluations submitted by students rotating through their emergency medicine clerkship. This has served as an effective tool to increase the overall number of evaluations completed, the number of evaluations each instructor received on average and the proportion of students that completed evaluations

Risk evaluation and control strategies for indoor radon: a brief discussion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nero, A.V. Jr.

1994-01-01

Average risks of death estimated for radon are larger than those for many exposures in the outdoor environment, but similar to some in industrial settings. However, the indoor environment differs in regard to cost, benefit, responsibility, and distribution of risks from the outdoor and occupational settings, where frameworks for setting risk-limiting objectives and strategies have already been developed substantially. This indicates the need to develop a conceptual framework for evaluating risks in the indoor environment, within which the objectives of radon control strategies can be sensibly chosen. Nevertheless, the range of estimated radon risks and of recent radon control strategies suggest near-term elements of any strategy, i.e. accurate and effective public information, as well as reliable monitoring and control capabilities, and a focus on areas where most high residential levels occur. Developing a conceptual framework for evaluating indoor risks will permit the formulation of suitable aims on average indoor exposures and lower exposure situations. (author)

Performance evaluation of control strategies for power maneuvering event of the KALIMER-600

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Seong, Seong-Hwan; Kim, Seong-O

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► The performance of three power control strategies of the KALIMER-600 was evaluated. ► There are turbine-, reactor- and feedwater-leading strategies in this study. ► For this, a performance analysis code was developed in this study. ► Simulation results show the turbine-leading is the best alternative. ► The feedwater-leading seems to be the second option. - Abstract: A sodium-cooled fast reactor named KALIMER-600 has been under development at KAERI. It is a pool-type reactor with the intermediate loops filled with sodium and has a superheated steam cycle with the once-through steam generators. Since the characteristic of the power control of the KALIMER-600 is expected to be different with that of a conventional power plant, the performance of the turbine-leading, reactor-leading and feedwater-leading control strategies for a power maneuvering event of the KALIMER-600 was evaluated in this study. The turbine-leading and reactor-leading strategies are very similar to those of a conventional water reactor but the feedwater-leading strategy is very similar to that of a fossil plant. Also, a performance analysis code which can analyze the plant dynamics of the KALIMER-600 and simulate the control actions during a power maneuvering event was developed. To evaluate the performance of control strategies, a simple power maneuvering event including a 10% step change and a ramp change with a rate of 5%/min was assumed and simulated. Through the simulation results, the turbine-leading strategy is proven to be very suitable for the KALIMER-600 and the feedwater-leading strategy for power maneuvering seems to be a good alternative for the power control. In further studies, various performance-related events such as the reactor power cutback, turbine runback and some transients will be evaluated and the best control strategy will be suggested.

A Holistic Quality Evaluation, Selection and Improvement Approach driven by Multilevel Goals and Strategies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Belen Rivera

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Organizations should establish business goals and check for their achievement in a systematic and disciplined way. In order to know if a business goal is achieved, it should be necessary to consider information need goals that also can require satisfying measurement and evaluation goals at operational level. Furthermore, if measurement and evaluation goals are not aligned with top-level business goals such as tactical or strategic level goals, the organization could waste its effort and resources. Usually, the different goals established in an organization are operationalized through projects. For a given project, strategies should be used in order to help in the goal achievement. A strategy defines a set of activities and methods to be followed for a specific goal purpose. Ultimately, to engineering all these issues in a systematic way, organizations should adopt a holistic evaluation approach supported by a set of integrated strategies. By means of a systematic literature review as research method, we have observed that very few approaches support integrated strategies and multilevel goals. To bridge this gap, we have developed a holistic quality multilevel and multipurpose evaluation approach that ties together multilevel goals, projects and integrated strategies. As contributions, this paper discusses an enhanced conceptual base (specified by ontologies for linking business and information need goal concepts with project, strategy and nonfunctional requirements concepts. Then, it defines the step by step of our holistic quality evaluation approach, by listing the necessary activities to establish goals and projects at different organizational levels. Lastly, it specifies and illustrates evaluation scenarios for business/information need goal purposes such as understanding, improving, monitoring and controlling, comparing and selecting entities, which are supported by strategies and strategy patterns.

Using the acid rain advisor to evaluate compliance strategies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stallard, G.S.; Anderson, A.A.

1991-01-01

Unlike prior Clean Air Act (CAA) legislation, the most recent amendments will require utilities to reduce SO 2 and NO x emissions for existing operating power station and provides for compliance strategies in which emissions for existing operating power stations and provides for compliance strategies in which emission reductions can be transferred from one unit to another. The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), in conjunction with the Department of Energy (DOE), is funding the development of the Coal Quality Expert (CQE), a comprehensive analytical/planning tool to consider the myriad of potential coal purchase decisions now facing the utility, including fuel switching, blending, coal beneficiation, and the installation of retrofit emission controls. The CQE will be built on the foundation of proven, validated computer models to the maximum extent possible, including EPRI's Coal Quality Impact Model (CQIM), a state-of-the-art computer model designed to evaluate cost/performance impacts of fuel switching at existing power plants. In addition, as the CQE development permits, interim computer products will be offered. The first of these products is the Acid Rain Advisor (ARA). The ARA complements the CQIM by providing the ability to rapidly evaluate the system-wide cost and reduction benefits which result from selecting various reduction techniques on various units within the system. Thus, with the ARA, the utility can efficiently combine cost/performance information, view overall system results, and rapidly consider various 'What if' alternatives to ensure that individual unit reduction strategies are consistent with the goals of the utility as a whole. This paper demonstrates the capabilities of the ARA, and by use of a 'sample analysis,' illustrates how a utility might develop and evaluate alternative CAA compliance strategies

Evaluating Teen Pregnancy Prevention Programs: Decades of Evolving Strategies and Practices

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Susan Philliber

2015-09-01

Full Text Available This paper reviews the changing strategies for both process and outcome evaluations of teen pregnancy prevention programs over the past few decades. Implementation evaluations have emphasized discovery of what program attributes are most effective in reducing teen pregnancy and its antecedents. Outcome evaluations have moved from collecting data to measure knowledge, attitudes, and program satisfaction to measuring behavior change including postponement of sexual involvement, increased used of contraception, or reduction in teen pregnancy. High quality randomized control trials or quasi-experimental designs are being increasingly emphasized, as are sophisticated analysis techniques using multi-variate analyses, controls for cluster sampling, and other strategies designed to build a more solid knowledge base about how to prevent early pregnancy.

Efficiency Evaluation of Strategies for Dynamic Management of Wireless Sensor Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrea Verônica González

2017-01-01

Full Text Available This paper presents and evaluates dynamic management strategies to improve efficiency in event-triggered wireless sensor networks. We are considering mobility, where nodes move themselves to maximize the coverage, and load balancing state-of-the-art techniques, by which the number of nodes sensing the same area is reduced. To explore mobility, we present a simple method by which nodes can dynamically reorganize themselves based on the force fields approach of mobile robotics. Firstly, the strategies are evaluated separately through experiments with different network configurations and, afterwards, a joint evaluation has been conducted to observe the impact of mobility on the efficiency of load balancing techniques. We show that mobile nodes significantly contribute to keeping the coverage as nodes die in mesh and powerfully improving it in random deployments. Load balancing techniques achieve important results, increasing lifetime and the number of sensed events. However, in random deployments, these techniques lose efficiency and become unsuitable strategies. Combining these strategies with mobility, we observe that PS-based technique keeps its contribution in mesh and random deployments, as well as improving its performance for not so dense networks. Ant-based technique when combined with mobile nodes loses performance significantly in mesh and keeps its good performance in random deployed and less dense networks.

Evaluation of sampling strategies to estimate crown biomass

Science.gov (United States)

Krishna P Poudel; Hailemariam Temesgen; Andrew N Gray

2015-01-01

Depending on tree and site characteristics crown biomass accounts for a significant portion of the total aboveground biomass in the tree. Crown biomass estimation is useful for different purposes including evaluating the economic feasibility of crown utilization for energy production or forest products, fuel load assessments and fire management strategies, and wildfire...

Risk evaluation and mitigation strategies: a focus on belatacept.

Science.gov (United States)

Sam, Teena; Gabardi, Steven; Tichy, Eric M

2013-03-01

To review the elements and components of the risk evaluation and mitigation strategies (REMS) for the costimulation blocker belatacept and associated implications for health care providers working with transplant recipients. The MEDLINE and EMBASE databases (January 1990 to March 2012) were searched by using risk evaluation and mitigation strategies, REMS, belatacept, and organ transplant as search terms (individual organs were also searched). Retrieved articles were supplemented with analysis of information obtained from the Federal Register, the Food and Drug Administration, and the manufacturer of belatacept. REMS are risk-management strategies implemented to ensure that a product's benefits outweigh its known safety risks. Although belatacept offers a novel strategy in maintenance immunosuppression and was associated with superior renal function compared with cyclosporine in phase 2 and 3 trials, belatacept is also associated with increased risk of posttransplant lymphoproliferative disorder and central nervous system infections. The Food and Drug Administration required development of a REMS program as part of belatacept's approval process to ensure safe and appropriate use of the medication and optimization of its risk-benefit profile. Elements of the belatacept REMS include a medication guide that must be dispensed with each infusion and a communication plan. In the management of a complex population of patients, it is essential that those who care for transplant recipients, and patients, recognize the implications of potential and known risks of belatacept. The REMS program aims to facilitate careful selection and education of patients and vigilant monitoring.

Evaluation of different hedging strategies for commodity price risks of industrial cogeneration plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Palzer, Andreas; Westner, Günther; Madlener, Reinhard

2013-01-01

In this paper, we design and evaluate eight different strategies for hedging commodity price risks of industrial cogeneration plants. Price developments are parameterized based on EEX data from 2008 to 2011. The probability distributions derived are used to determine the value-at-risk (VaR) of the individual strategies, which are in a final step combined in a mean-variance portfolio analysis for determining the most efficient hedging strategy. We find that the strategy adopted can have a marked influence on the remaining price risk. Quarter futures are found to be particularly well suited for reducing market price risk. In contrast, spot trading of CO 2 certificates is found to be preferable compared to forward market trading. Finally, portfolio optimization shows that a mix of various hedging strategies can further improve the profitability of a heat-based cogeneration plant. - Highlights: • Evaluation of commodity price risk hedging strategies for industrial cogeneration. • Value-at-risk analysis of eight different hedging strategies. • Mean-variance portfolio analysis for determining the optimal hedging strategy mix. • A mix of hedging strategies further improves profitability of heat-based CHP

Evaluating economic costs and benefits of climate resilient livelihood strategies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Liu

2016-01-01

Full Text Available A major challenge for international development is to assist the poorest regions to achieve development targets while taking climate change into account. Such ‘climate resilient development’ (CRD must identify and implement adaptation strategies for improving livelihoods while also being cost-effective. While the idea that climate resilience and development goals should be compatible is often discussed, empirical evaluations of the economic impacts of actual CRD investments are practically non-existent. This paper outlines a framework to evaluate economic returns to CRD and applies it in two adaptation strategies trialed in Nusa Tenggara Barat Province, eastern Indonesia. The evaluation framework is composed of three models: a household benefit cost model, a diffusion model, and a regional benefit cost model. The models draw upon the impact evaluation, technology diffusion, and risk assessment literatures, respectively. The analyzes are based on expert opinion and locally-derived information, and hence can be applied in data-poor situations typical of developing countries. Our results explore economic costs and benefits at the household and regional scale, and we identify key input variables that greatly influence the economic returns of the strategies. These variables should therefore be a focus of ongoing investment. We also discuss how the framework is more generally applicable, its limitations including challenges in accounting for less tangible social and ecosystem service benefits, potentially leading to the underestimation of impacts, and how the approach should be complemented by qualitative methods.

Evaluating Persuasion Strategies and Deep Reinforcement Learning methods for Negotiation Dialogue agents

OpenAIRE

Keizer, Simon; Guhe, Markus; Cuayáhuitl, Heriberto; Efstathiou, Ioannis; Engelbrecht, Klaus-Peter; Dobre, Mihai; Lascarides, Alexandra; Lemon, Oliver

2017-01-01

In this paper we present a comparative evaluation of various negotiation strategies within an online version of the game “Settlers of Catan”. The comparison is based on human subjects playing games against artificial game-playing agents (‘bots’) which implement different negotiation dialogue strategies, using a chat dialogue interface to negotiate trades. Our results suggest that a negotiation strategy that uses persuasion, as well as a strategy that is trained from data using Deep Reinforcem...

Evaluation of plant-wide WWTP control strategies including the effects of filamentous bulking sludge

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Flores Alsina, Xavier; Comas, J.S.; Rodríguez Roda, I.

2009-01-01

The main objective of this paper is to evaluate the effect of filamentous bulking sludge on the predicted performance of simulated plant-wide WWTP control strategies. First, as a reference case, several control strategies are implemented, simulated and evaluated using the IWA Benchmark Simulation...

A Strategy for Detection of Inconsistency in Evaluation of Essay Type Answers

Science.gov (United States)

Shukla, Archana; Chaudhary, Banshi D.

2014-01-01

The quality of evaluation of essay type answer books involving multiple evaluators for courses with large number of enrollments is likely to be affected due to heterogeneity in experience, expertise and maturity of evaluators. In this paper, we present a strategy to detect anomalies in evaluation of essay type answers by multiple evaluators based…

Environmental performance evaluation and strategy management using balanced scorecard.

Science.gov (United States)

Hsu, Yu-Lung; Liu, Chun-Chu

2010-11-01

Recently, environmental protection and regulations such as WEEE, ELV, and RoHS are rapidly emerging as an important issue for business to consider. The trend of swinging from end-of-pipe control to product design, green innovation, and even the establishment of image or brand has affected corporations in almost every corner in the world, and enlarged to the all modern global production network. Corporations must take proactive environmental strategies to response the challenges. This study adopts balanced scorecard structure and aim at automobile industries to understand the relationships of internal and external, financial and non-financial, and outcome and driving factors. Further relying on these relationships to draw the "map of environment strategy" to probe and understand the feasibility of environmental performance evaluation and environmental strategy control.

Evaluating the effectiveness of brand-positioning strategies from a consumer perspective

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fuchs, Christoph; Diamantopoulos, Adamantios

2010-01-01

- The findings should guide brand managers in selecting the most appropriate positioning strategies for their brands in high-involvement markets such as the automobile market. Originality/value - The study sheds initial light on the overall relative effectiveness of major positioning strategies. The study......Purpose - The purpose of the paper is to explore empirically the overall relative effectiveness of alternative positioning strategies from a consumer perspective. Design/methodology/approach - Two studies (within- and between-subjects design) are conducted aimed at evaluating the positioning...... of positioning strategy used affects the positioning success of a brand. More specifically, the study confirms normative arguments about the overall relative effectiveness of main positioning strategies by revealing that benefit-based positioning and surrogate (user) positioning generally outperform feature...

Multi-criteria evaluation of wastewater treatment plant control strategies under uncertainty

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Flores Alsina, Xavier; Rodriguez-Roda, Ignasi; Sin, Gürkan

2008-01-01

The evaluation of activated sludge control strategies in wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) via mathematical modelling is a complex activity because several objectives; e.g. economic, environmental, technical and legal; must be taken into account at the same time, i.e. the evaluation of the alter...

Evaluating alternative management strategies for bigeye tuna, Thunnus obesus, in the Indian Ocean

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yuhe Tong

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Bigeye tuna (Thunnus obesus support a large commercial fishery in the Indian Ocean. However, explicit management strategies and harvest control rules are yet to be developed for the management of this fishery. We used a stochastic age-structured production model as an operating model to evaluate several potential management strategies under different assumptions of stock productivity. Five management strategies—constant fishing mortality, constant catch, quasi-constant catch, constant escapement, and status-dependent strategies—were evaluated and compared using the performance indicators including average catch, average spawning stock biomass, variation in catch, average fishing mortality and lowest biomass during the time period considered in the simulation. This study shows that (1 for the constant catch strategy, an annual catch of 90000 t would result in a low risk of stock being overfished while obtaining a stable catch; (2 for the constant fishing mortality strategy fishing mortality of 0.3 per year could yield a higher catch, but might have a high probability (64% of stock dropping below the spawning stock biomass (SSB that could achieve maximum sustainable yield (SSBmsy; and (3 for the quasi-constant catch strategy an annual catch of 110000 t was sustainable if the current SSB was higher than SSBmsy. Constant escapement and status-dependent strategies were robust with respect to different levels of virgin recruitment and steepness. This study suggests that it is important to incorporate uncertainties associated with key life history, fisheries and management processes in evaluating management strategies.

77 FR 26292 - Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy Assessments: Social Science Methodologies to Assess Goals...

Science.gov (United States)

2012-05-03

...] Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy Assessments: Social Science Methodologies to Assess Goals... announcing a public workshop entitled ``Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy Assessments: Social Science... constructive dialogue and information-sharing among regulators, researchers, the pharmaceutical industry...

Evaluation of bioremediation strategies of a controlled oil release in a wetland

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mills, Marc A.; Bonner, James S.; Page, Cheryl A.; Autenrieth, Robin L.

2004-01-01

A controlled petroleum release was conducted to evaluate bioremediation in a wetland near Houston, Texas. The 140-day study was conducted using a randomized, complete block design to test three treatments with six replicates per treatment. The three treatment strategies were inorganic nutrients, inorganic nutrients with an alternative electron acceptor, and a no-action oiled control. Samples were analyzed for petroleum chemistry and inorganic nutrients. These results are discussed in the context of our related research involving toxicology and microbiology at the site during the experiment. To evaluate biodegradation, the targeted compounds were normalized to the conservative compound C 30 17α, 21β-[H]hopane, thus reducing the effects of spatial heterogeneity and physical transport. The two biostimulation treatments demonstrated statistically-higher rates of biodegradation than the oiled no-action control. For the majority of the experiment, target nutrient levels were maintained. Further research may be warranted to optimize these bioremediation strategies as well as evaluating additional treatment strategies for wetlands and other shoreline systems

Multi-criteria evaluation of wastewater treatment plant control strategies under uncertainty.

Science.gov (United States)

Flores-Alsina, Xavier; Rodríguez-Roda, Ignasi; Sin, Gürkan; Gernaey, Krist V

2008-11-01

The evaluation of activated sludge control strategies in wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) via mathematical modelling is a complex activity because several objectives; e.g. economic, environmental, technical and legal; must be taken into account at the same time, i.e. the evaluation of the alternatives is a multi-criteria problem. Activated sludge models are not well characterized and some of the parameters can present uncertainty, e.g. the influent fractions arriving to the facility and the effect of either temperature or toxic compounds on the kinetic parameters, having a strong influence in the model predictions used during the evaluation of the alternatives and affecting the resulting rank of preferences. Using a simplified version of the IWA Benchmark Simulation Model No. 2 as a case study, this article shows the variations in the decision making when the uncertainty in activated sludge model (ASM) parameters is either included or not during the evaluation of WWTP control strategies. This paper comprises two main sections. Firstly, there is the evaluation of six WWTP control strategies using multi-criteria decision analysis setting the ASM parameters at their default value. In the following section, the uncertainty is introduced, i.e. input uncertainty, which is characterized by probability distribution functions based on the available process knowledge. Next, Monte Carlo simulations are run to propagate input through the model and affect the different outcomes. Thus (i) the variation in the overall degree of satisfaction of the control objectives for the generated WWTP control strategies is quantified, (ii) the contributions of environmental, legal, technical and economic objectives to the existing variance are identified and finally (iii) the influence of the relative importance of the control objectives during the selection of alternatives is analyzed. The results show that the control strategies with an external carbon source reduce the output uncertainty

Towards a benchmark simulation model for plant-wide control strategy performance evaluation of WWTPs

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jeppsson, Ulf; Rosen, Christian; Alex, Jens

2006-01-01

The COST/IWA benchmark simulation model has been available for seven years. Its primary purpose has been to create a platform for control strategy benchmarking of activated sludge processes. The fact that the benchmark has resulted in more than 100 publications, not only in Europe but also...... worldwide, demonstrates the interest in such a tool within the research community In this paper, an extension of the benchmark simulation model no 1 (BSM1) is proposed. This extension aims at facilitating control strategy development and performance evaluation at a plant-wide level and, consequently...... the changes, the evaluation period has been extended to one year. A prolonged evaluation period allows for long-term control strategies to be assessed and enables the use of control handles that cannot be evaluated in a realistic fashion in the one-week BSM1 evaluation period. In the paper, the extended plant...

Evaluation of strategies for end storage of high-level reactor fuel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2001-01-01

This report evaluates a national strategy for end-storage of used high-level reactor fuel from the research reactors at Kjeller and in Halden. This strategy presupposes that all the important phases in handling the high-level material, including temporary storage and deposition, are covered. The quantity of spent fuel from Norwegian reactors is quite small. In addition to the technological issues, ethical, environmental, safety and economical requirements are emphasized

Geologists' Implicit Persuasive Strategies and the Construction of Evaluative Evidence.

Science.gov (United States)

Dressen, Dacia

2003-01-01

Describes the basis for the evaluational practices of the field geology community, through a qualitative analysis of geologists' implicit strategies coupled with the situated analysis of the field account part-genre, its past and present disciplinary practices. (Author/VWL)

Evaluation of two communication strategies to improve udder health management.

Science.gov (United States)

Jansen, J; Renes, R J; Lam, T J G M

2010-02-01

Worldwide, programs to improve udder health are implemented using communication tools and methods that inform and persuade dairy farmers. This study evaluated 2 communication strategies used in a mastitis control program in the Netherlands. To improve farmers' udder health management, tools such as instruction cards, treatment plans, checklists and software were developed following an argument-based comprehensive "central route." These tools were used during on-farm study group meetings for farmers organized by veterinarians and also during individual veterinarian-farmer interactions. The second strategy aimed at adopting a single management practice to increase the use of milking gloves during milking. This approach followed a straightforward "peripheral" route that used implicit persuasion techniques. Results of an online survey of 374 Dutch dairy farmers showed that most farmers were able and willing to use the educational management tools to increase udder health on their farms. They evaluated the tools positively regardless of the mastitis problems on their farms. This seems to indicate that the central route of communication is most effective when farmers are motivated to work on udder health in general. Results of repeated random telephone surveys before, during, and after the campaign on the use of milking gloves showed that the use of gloves increased from 20.9 to 42.0% of the respondents. Respondents' opinions about milking gloves also changed favorably, indicating that a relatively short peripheral campaign on a single action can have a sustained effect on farmers' behavior. Both communication strategies seem to be potentially successful in disseminating knowledge to a specific target group of farmers and in changing that group's behavior. However, to reach as many farmers as possible, the strategies should be combined. When optimizing these strategies, both the farmers' motivation to work on udder health and the aim of the campaign should be considered

On e-business strategy planning and performance evaluation: An adaptive algorithmic managerial approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alexandra Lipitakis

2017-07-01

Full Text Available A new e-business strategy planning and performance evaluation scheme based on adaptive algorithmic modelling techniques is presented. The effect of financial and non-financial performance of organizations on e-business strategy planning is investigated. The relationships between the four strategic planning parameters are examined, the directions of these relationships are given and six additional basic components are also considered. The new conceptual model has been constructed for e-business strategic planning and performance evaluation and an adaptive algorithmic modelling approach is presented. The new adaptive algorithmic modelling scheme including eleven dynamic modules, can be optimized and used effectively in e-business strategic planning and strategic planning evaluation of various e-services in very large organizations and businesses. A synoptic statistical analysis and comparative numerical results for the case of UK and Greece are given. The proposed e-business models indicate how e-business strategic planning may affect financial and non-financial performance in business and organizations by exploring whether models which are used for strategy planning can be applied to e-business planning and whether these models would be valid in different environments. A conceptual model has been constructed and qualitative research methods have been used for testing a predetermined number of considered hypotheses. The proposed models have been tested in the UK and Greece and the conclusions including numerical results and statistical analyses indicated existing relationships between considered dependent and independent variables. The proposed e-business models are expected to contribute to e-business strategy planning of businesses and organizations and managers should consider applying these models to their e-business strategy planning to improve their companies’ performances. This research study brings together elements of e

Evaluating child care in the Family Health Strategy.

Science.gov (United States)

da Silva, Simone Albino; Fracolli, Lislaine Aparecida

2016-01-01

to evaluate the healthcare provided to children under two years old by the Family Health Strategy. evaluative, quantitative, cross-sectional study that used the Primary Care Assessment Tool - Child Version for measuring the access, longitudinality, coordination, integrality, family orientation and community orientation. a total of 586 adults responsible for children under two years old and linked to 33 health units in eleven municipalities of the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, were interviewed. The evaluation was positive for the attributes longitudinality and coordination, and negative for access, integrality, Family orientation and community orientation. there are discrepancies between health needs of children and what is offered by the service; organizational barriers to access; absence of counter-reference; predominance of curative and long-standing and individual preventive practices; verticalization in organization of actions; and lack of good communication between professionals and users.

Faculty verbal evaluations reveal strategies used to promote medical student performance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lowell Tong

2011-05-01

Full Text Available Background: Preceptors rarely follow medical students’ developing clinical performance over time and across disciplines. This study analyzes preceptors’ descriptions of longitudinal integrated clerkship (LIC students’ clinical development and their identification of strategies to guide students’ progress. Methods: We used a common evaluation framework, reporter-interpreter-manager-educator, to guide multidisciplinary LIC preceptors’ discussions of students’ progress. We conducted thematic analysis of transcripts from preceptors’ (seven longitudinal ambulatory preceptors per student quarterly group discussions of 15 students’ performance over one year. Results: All students’ clinical development progressed, although most experienced obstacles. Lack of structure in the history and physical exam commonly obstructed progression. Preceptors used templates for data gathering, and modeling or experiences in the inpatient setting to provide time and solidify structure. To advance students’ knowledge acquisition, many preceptors identified focused learning topics with their students; to promote application of knowledge, preceptors used reasoning strategies to teach the steps involved in synthesizing clinical data. Preceptors shared accountability for helping students advance as the LIC allowed them to follow students’ response to teaching strategies. Discussion: These results depict preceptors’ perceptions of LIC students’ developmental continuum and illustrate how multidisciplinary preceptors can use a common evaluation framework to identify strategies to improve performance and follow students’ performance longitudinally.

Defining a strategy to evaluate cervical cancer prevention and early detection in the era of HPV vaccination.

Science.gov (United States)

Howlett, Roberta I; Miller, Anthony B; Pasut, George; Mai, Verna

2009-05-01

The purpose of this paper is to outline the short-, medium- and long-term requirements of a strategy to evaluate the impact of HPV immunization and to define a framework to facilitate planning and evaluation. This strategy was developed in Ontario from January to August 2008. Literature review was completed to assess existing material relevant to vaccine evaluation, and HPV vaccine specifically. Scientists and epidemiologists within our organization attended meetings to brainstorm and identify key requirements for vaccine evaluation. Other selected internal and external experts were consulted to review preliminary lists of potential indicators and questions for inclusion in an evaluation strategy. Results are reported in three sections--literature review, proposed evaluation framework and data requirements. The first vaccine evaluation strategy that integrates primary and secondary prevention of cervical cancer is presented. Among women who are neither screened nor immunized, customized interventions will be required to ensure that they are aware of potential risks and benefits. This evaluation strategy may serve as a useful outline for jurisdictions in Canada and elsewhere. This new paradigm of combined primary and secondary intervention will encourage cooperation for effective evaluation of an integrated approach for control of cervical cancer and other HPV-related disease.

Evaluation of two communication strategies to improve udder health management

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jansen, J.; Renes, R.J.; Lam, T.J.G.M.

2010-01-01

Worldwide, programs to improve udder health are implemented using communication tools and methods that inform and persuade dairy farmers. This study evaluated 2 communication strategies used in a mastitis control program in the Netherlands. To improve farmers’ udder health management, tools such as

Evaluation of strategies for end storage of high-level reactor fuel; Vurdering av strategier for sluttlagring av hoeyaktivt reaktorbrensel

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2001-07-01

This report evaluates a national strategy for end-storage of used high-level reactor fuel from the research reactors at Kjeller and in Halden. This strategy presupposes that all the important phases in handling the high-level material, including temporary storage and deposition, are covered. The quantity of spent fuel from Norwegian reactors is quite small. In addition to the technological issues, ethical, environmental, safety and economical requirements are emphasized.

Learning strategies in the planning and evaluation phase of image production

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Larsson, W.; Aspelin, P.; Lundberg, N.

2013-01-01

This paper identifies, describes and analyses radiographers' learning strategies in practice. These strategies are particularly important in the light of the great changes in radiology departments and the role of radiographers during the past two decades. With increased responsibility for quality assurance and diagnostic work, radiographers need to develop specific skills over time, which requires learning strategies in practice. The aim of this study is to identify, describe and analyze the learning strategies of novice and experienced radiographers in the planning and evaluation phase of image production. This study found that novice radiographers; use memorization combined with logical reasoning, apply focused observation, selective reading and information-seeking, communicate through: active and attentive listening, asking questions, receiving feedback, discussing problems and speak out loud. Experienced radiographers; use memorization in combination with logical reasoning and predicting, observe discriminating, read selectively, validate information and perform information-seeking. They communicate through: listening analyzing and demanding way, answering questions and providing feed-back and discussing problems. This study concludes that the difference between the learning strategies of novice and experienced radiographers is in the way they apply the strategies rather than the strategies themselves

Evaluation of a Tailored Direct-Mail Marketing Strategy for Recruiting the 19- to 23-Year-Old Market.

Science.gov (United States)

1983-05-01

17AD-A12.9 860 EVALUATION OF A TAILORED DIRECT-MAIL MARKETING STRATEGY 1/ FOR RECRUITNG TH.U) WESAT INC ROCKVILLE MD K FERNANDES ET AL MAY 83 NPRDC...STANDARDS-1963-A EVALUATION OF A TAILORED DIRECT-MAIL MARKETING STRATEGY FOR RECRUITING THE 19- TO 23-YEAR-OLD MARKET APPRVEDFORPUBLIC RELE AnE [B...EVALUATION OF A TAILORED DIRECT-MAIL MARKETING STRATEGY FOR RECRUITING THE 19- TO 23-YEAR-OLD MARKET Kathleen Fernandes Navy Personnel Research and

Evaluation of Coolant Injection Procedure in the Severe Accident Management Strategy of APR1400

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cho, Yongjin; Lim, Kukhee; Song, Sungchu; Lee, Sukho; Hwang, Taesuk

2013-01-01

A coolant injection strategy in the severe accident management guideline (SAMG) of APR1400 relates to immediate coolant injection into RCS (Reactor Coolant System) or injection following the recovery of secondary coolant inventory. This strategy could play important role in accident mitigation and radiological consequences. In this study, appropriateness of the strategy was evaluated using MELCOR1.8.6 and several sensitivity studies of the key parameters were performed. Analysis for APR1400 using MELCOR 1.8.6 was performed to evaluate the effectiveness of accident management strategies and the following conclusions were identified. Sequential operation of secondary and RCS injection may not be the best strategy and the simultaneous injection of secondary and RCS injection could be more preferable. At least, the RCS injection should start before complete drainage of water in the safety injection tank using mobile pumps. In this study, the effectiveness of timing of operator action has been examined and the amount of injection flowrate needs to be studied in the future

Evaluating the value chain model for service organisational strategy: International hotels.

OpenAIRE

Choi, Keetag.

2000-01-01

Strategic models like Porter's (1985) value chain have not been fully evaluated in the strategy literature and applied to all industries. To theoretically redefine the value chain technique, this research evaluates the value chain's use with various strategic issues by applying it to a specific aspect in the service field, namely the hotel industry. The study defines five key questions by which to evaluate a strategic model and the value chain model is examined using them. This research is a ...

The use of influence diagrams for evaluating severe accident management strategies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jae, M.; Apostolakis, G.E.

1992-01-01

In this paper, the influence diagram, a new analytical tool for developing and evaluating severe accident management strategies, is presented. Influence diagrams are much simpler than decision trees because they do not lead to the large number of branches that are generated when decision trees are used in realistic problems; furthermore, they show explicitly the dependencies between the variables of the problem. One of the accident management strategies proposed for light water reactors, flooding the reactor cavity as a means of preventing vessel breach during a short-term station blackout sequence, is presented. The influence diagram associated with this strategy is constructed. Finally, the advantages of using influence diagrams in accident management are explored

An evaluation of management strategies for Atlantic tuna stocks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

L. T. Kell

2003-04-01

Full Text Available International agreements for the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT convention area imply that Atlantic tuna stocks should be managed by strategies based on maximum sustainable yield (MSY; however, there is concern whether this will actually ensure sustainability with sufficiently high probability consistent with the principals of the precautionary approach. Therefore, the performance of MSY management strategies based on current assessment procedures was evaluated using a computer simulation framework. The framework includes the data collection, assessment, prediction, and management processes, as well as the implementation of management regulations. It therefore provides an integrated way to evaluate the relative importance of and the interactions between each component of the system with regard to the overall success of the management strategy. The study elucidates guidelines about assessment and management that are general enough to be applied to all tunas in the Atlantic Ocean. It does so by comparing different hypotheses about management and assessment for three stocks (North Atlantic albacore, Atlantic bigeye and East Atlantic skipjack, which are representative of the variety encountered (i.e. from data rich to poor and tropical to temperate waters in ICCAT stocks. Management performance was especially sensitive to the carrying capacity of the stock. The type of proxy used for MSY was more important to the success of the procedure than the frequency of assessment or the number of indices used in the assessment. Whilst the procedure was successful at achieving the management objectives for albacore, it was only partially successful for bigeye and was too conservative for skipjack.

Core Self-Evaluations and Individual Strategies of Coping with Unemployment among Displaced Spanish Workers.

Science.gov (United States)

Virkes, Tihana; Maslić Seršić, Darja; Lopez-Zafra, Esther

2017-10-30

Unemployment has negative but also positive effects on mental health and general well-being depending on which coping strategies the individual use. Our aim was to determine the contribution of core self-evaluations in explaining the coping strategies of job search and job devaluation, as well as to test the potential moderation effect of job search and mediation effect of job devaluation on the relationship between self core-evaluations and both positive and negative experience of unemployment. One hundred seventy-eight individuals who lost their jobs involuntarily for a longer period than one month completed a questionnaire while attending to employment office. Results show that there is a significant relation between core-self evaluations and job devaluation (.37**). Furthermore, core-self evaluations were positively related to positive experience of unemployment (r = .31; p unemployment (r = .60; p unemployment strategies (job devaluation; β = .26; p unemployment. But, individuals with a longer duration of the current period of unemployment and higher core self-evaluations had a more positive experience of unemployment, and job devaluation partially mediated this relation (SE = .002; p = .038). These results imply that programs interventions should include the improvement of core self-evaluations and the positive experience of unemployed people.

Evaluation of Ventilation Strategies in New Construction Multifamily Buildings

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Maxwell, S. [Consortium for Advanced Residential Buildings (CARB), Norwalk, CT (United States); Berger, D. [Consortium for Advanced Residential Buildings (CARB), Norwalk, CT (United States); Zuluaga, M. [Consortium for Advanced Residential Buildings (CARB), Norwalk, CT (United States)

2014-07-01

In multifamily buildings, particularly in the Northeast, exhaust ventilation strategies are the norm as a means of meeting both local exhaust and whole-unit mechanical ventilation rates. The issue of where the "fresh" air is coming from is gaining significance as air-tightness standards for enclosures become more stringent. CARB researchers have found that most new high performance, multifamily housing in the Northeast use one of four strategies for ventilation: continuous exhaust only with no designated supply or make-up air source, continuous exhaust with ducted make-up air to apartments, continuous exhaust with supply through a make-up air device integral to the unit HVAC, and continuous exhaust with supply through a passive inlet device, such as a trickle vent. Insufficient information is available to designers on how these various systems are best applied. Product performance data are based on laboratory tests, but there is no guarantee that those conditions will exist consistently in the finished building. In this research project, CARB evaluated the four ventilation strategies in the field to validate system performance.

Evaluating Internal Model Strength and Performance of Myoelectric Prosthesis Control Strategies.

Science.gov (United States)

Shehata, Ahmed W; Scheme, Erik J; Sensinger, Jonathon W

2018-05-01

On-going developments in myoelectric prosthesis control have provided prosthesis users with an assortment of control strategies that vary in reliability and performance. Many studies have focused on improving performance by providing feedback to the user but have overlooked the effect of this feedback on internal model development, which is key to improve long-term performance. In this paper, the strength of internal models developed for two commonly used myoelectric control strategies: raw control with raw feedback (using a regression-based approach) and filtered control with filtered feedback (using a classifier-based approach), were evaluated using two psychometric measures: trial-by-trial adaptation and just-noticeable difference. The performance of both strategies was also evaluated using Schmidt's style target acquisition task. Results obtained from 24 able-bodied subjects showed that although filtered control with filtered feedback had better short-term performance in path efficiency ( ), raw control with raw feedback resulted in stronger internal model development ( ), which may lead to better long-term performance. Despite inherent noise in the control signals of the regression controller, these findings suggest that rich feedback associated with regression control may be used to improve human understanding of the myoelectric control system.

The role of a blue ocean strategy on performance evaluation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mojtaba Tabari

2014-08-01

Full Text Available This paper develops a balanced scorecard (BSC in order to prepare a comprehensive tool for performance evaluation. In this way, an experimental test is conducted in the Resorts of Ramsar Green City located in the north of Iran, in which the factors of a blue ocean strategy influence on the dimensions of the BSC. The sample number of this study consists of 90 managers and experts of the employees who work for Resorts of Ramsar Green City. The acquired data are analyzed with using the t-test. The obtained results show that the blue ocean strategy changes in the objects and the scales of the BSC.

An evaluation of multi-annual management strategies for ICES roundfish stocks

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kell, L.T.; Pilling, G.M.; Kirkwood, G.P.

2006-01-01

to observe, monitor, assess, and control them. Strategies were evaluated in terms of risk (measured as the probability of spawning-stock biomass falling below a biomass threshold for the stock) and cumulative yield. In general, bounds on interannual TAC change of 10% and 20% affected the ability to achieve......Current scientific management objectives for ICES roundfish stocks are to ensure conservation of the biological resource and do not explicitly consider economic or social objectives. For example, there are currently no objectives to maximize the sustainable yield or to reduce variability in total...... allowable catches (TACs). This is despite the fact that the current system can result in wide annual fluctuations in TAC, limiting the ability of the fishing industry to plan for the future. Therefore, this study evaluated management strategies that stabilized catches by setting bounds on the interannual...

Evaluation of Sexual Communication Message Strategies

Science.gov (United States)

2011-01-01

Parent-child communication about sex is an important proximal reproductive health outcome. But while campaigns to promote it such as the Parents Speak Up National Campaign (PSUNC) have been effective, little is known about how messages influence parental cognitions and behavior. This study examines which message features explain responses to sexual communication messages. We content analyzed 4 PSUNC ads to identify specific, measurable message and advertising execution features. We then develop quantitative measures of those features, including message strategies, marketing strategies, and voice and other stylistic features, and merged the resulting data into a dataset drawn from a national media tracking survey of the campaign. Finally, we conducted multivariable logistic regression models to identify relationships between message content and ad reactions/receptivity, and between ad reactions/receptivity and parents' cognitions related to sexual communication included in the campaign's conceptual model. We found that overall parents were highly receptive to the PSUNC ads. We did not find significant associations between message content and ad reactions/receptivity. However, we found that reactions/receptivity to specific PSUNC ads were associated with increased norms, self-efficacy, short- and long-term expectations about parent-child sexual communication, as theorized in the conceptual model. This study extends previous research and methods to analyze message content and reactions/receptivity. The results confirm and extend previous PSUNC campaign evaluation and provide further evidence for the conceptual model. Future research should examine additional message content features and the effects of reactions/receptivity. PMID:21599875

Evaluation of Sexual Communication Message Strategies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Khan Munziba

2011-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Parent-child communication about sex is an important proximal reproductive health outcome. But while campaigns to promote it such as the Parents Speak Up National Campaign (PSUNC have been effective, little is known about how messages influence parental cognitions and behavior. This study examines which message features explain responses to sexual communication messages. We content analyzed 4 PSUNC ads to identify specific, measurable message and advertising execution features. We then develop quantitative measures of those features, including message strategies, marketing strategies, and voice and other stylistic features, and merged the resulting data into a dataset drawn from a national media tracking survey of the campaign. Finally, we conducted multivariable logistic regression models to identify relationships between message content and ad reactions/receptivity, and between ad reactions/receptivity and parents' cognitions related to sexual communication included in the campaign's conceptual model. We found that overall parents were highly receptive to the PSUNC ads. We did not find significant associations between message content and ad reactions/receptivity. However, we found that reactions/receptivity to specific PSUNC ads were associated with increased norms, self-efficacy, short- and long-term expectations about parent-child sexual communication, as theorized in the conceptual model. This study extends previous research and methods to analyze message content and reactions/receptivity. The results confirm and extend previous PSUNC campaign evaluation and provide further evidence for the conceptual model. Future research should examine additional message content features and the effects of reactions/receptivity.

A systematic review and economic evaluation of diagnostic strategies for Lynch syndrome.

Science.gov (United States)

Snowsill, Tristan; Huxley, Nicola; Hoyle, Martin; Jones-Hughes, Tracey; Coelho, Helen; Cooper, Chris; Frayling, Ian; Hyde, Chris

2014-09-01

Lynch syndrome (LS) is an inherited autosomal dominant disorder characterised by an increased risk of colorectal cancer (CRC) and other cancers, and caused by mutations in the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) mismatch repair genes. To evaluate the accuracy and cost-effectiveness of strategies to identify LS in newly diagnosed early-onset CRC patients (aged strategies for individuals in whom LS is identified. Systematic reviews were conducted of the test accuracy of microsatellite instability (MSI) testing or immunohistochemistry (IHC) in individuals with CRC at risk of LS, and of economic evidence relating to diagnostic strategies for LS. Reviews were carried out in April 2012 (test accuracy); and in February 2012, repeated in February 2013 (economic evaluations). Databases searched included MEDLINE (1946 to April week 3, 2012), EMBASE (1980 to week 17, 2012) and Web of Science (inception to 30 April 2012), and risk of bias for test accuracy was assessed using the Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies-2 (QUADAS-2) quality appraisal tool. A de novo economic model of diagnostic strategies for LS was developed. Inconsistencies in study designs precluded pooling of diagnostic test accuracy results from a previous systematic review and nine subsequent primary studies. These were of mixed quality, with significant methodological concerns identified for most. IHC and MSI can both play a part in diagnosing LS but neither is gold standard. No UK studies evaluated the cost-effectiveness of diagnosing and managing LS, although studies from other countries generally found some strategies to be cost-effective compared with no testing. The de novo model demonstrated that all strategies were cost-effective compared with no testing at a threshold of £20,000 per quality-adjusted life-year (QALY), with the most cost-effective strategy utilising MSI and BRAF testing [incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) = £5491 per QALY]. The maximum health benefit to the

Evaluating research recruitment strategies to improve response rates amongst South African nurses

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Natasha Khamisa

2014-03-01

Research purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate three research recruitment methods for their impact on recruitment and participation rates amongst South African nurses. Motivation for the study: A limited number of studies exist that formally evaluates different recruitment strategies to improve participation in research amongst nurses within developing contexts, especially South Africa. Research approach, design and method: Participants were recruited using three different methods. Of the 250 nurses randomly selected and invited to participate in a cross-sectional survey, 201 agreed and 162 (81% returned the questionnaires. Main findings: Nursing management participation in the recruitment and data collection process produces more favourable response rates. Reminders and the use of shorter questionnaires also aid higher response rates. Practical/managerial implications: Reminders as well as face-to-face recruitment strategies (especially by a familiar person successfully improved participation rates amongst South African nurses in this study. Contribution/value-add: This study identifies some strategies that could be used more widely to increase the recruitment and participation of South African nurses in research whilst potentially improving their work situation.

Evaluation of a pilot police-led suicide early alert surveillance strategy in the UK.

Science.gov (United States)

McGeechan, Grant James; Richardson, Catherine; Weir, Kevin; Wilson, Lynn; O'Neill, Gillian; Newbury-Birch, Dorothy

2017-07-19

Those bereaved by suicide are at increased risk of psychological harm, which can be reduced with the provision of timely support. This paper outlines an evaluation of a pilot police-led suicide strategy, in comparison to a coroner-led suicide strategy looking at the number, and length of time it takes for deaths to be recorded for each strategy. Additionally, the police-led strategy offers timely contact from support services for bereaved individuals. We examined what impact this offer of support had on the capacity of support services. A mixed methods evaluation compared how long it took for suspected suicides to be recorded using both strategies. The number of referrals received by support services during the pilot strategy were compared with those from previous years. A feedback focus group, and interviews, were held with key stakeholders. The coroner strategy was more consistent at identifying suspected suicides; however, reports were filed quicker by the police. Bereaved individuals were willing to share contact details with police officers and consent for referral to support services which lead to increased referrals. The focus group and interviews revealed that the pilot police strategy needs better integration into routine police practice. This strategy has the potential to deliver a real benefit to those bereaved by suicide; however, there are still aspects which could be improved. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

Systematic Evaluation Strategies for Innovative Programs in Health Professions Education: Need, Function and Components.

Science.gov (United States)

Taft, Thomas B., Jr.; Logan, Nelson S.

As change occurs in various health sciences programs, evaluational strategies should be developed so that adaptive decisions may be made. Evaluation models taking into account inputs, methodology, and outputs (Stake, 1967, and Astin and Panes, 1971) need examination. Alternative measurement instruments for formative and summative evaluations,…

Multicriteria evaluation of demand side management (DSM) implementation strategies in the Indian power sector

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vashishtha, Sanjay [Centre for Renewable Energy and Environmental Development (CREED), BITS, Pilani, Rajasthan 333031 (India); Ramachandran, M. [BITS Pilani Dubai Centre, Dubai (United Arab Emirates)

2006-09-15

In recent years, demand side management (DSM) has emerged as an efficient utility planning strategy for reducing capacity shortages and improving system load factors. The Indian government is adopting various policies to implement DSM programs. DSM implementation involves a variety of interests with conflicting objectives, and a range of possible implementation strategies with varying implications for effectiveness, cost, feasibility, efficiency and stakeholder acceptance. This necessitates a critical comparison of the strategies to determine a preferred strategy or combination of strategies from each specific stakeholder's point of view. The present study evaluates DSM implementation strategies from a multiobjective perspective using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). Eight strategies and six criteria were considered. Forty utility, regulator, and consumer stakeholders were surveyed. The most highly ranked strategies involved creating dedicated funds and providing technical support to end users for effective implementation of DSM. (author)

Enhancing Islamic Students’ Reading Comprehension through Predict Organize Search Summarize Evaluate Strategy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Darmayenti Darmayenti

2017-02-01

Full Text Available This paper is a report of an experimental research project conducted in a reading comprehension course for first-year students of the Adab Faculty of the State Institute for Islamic Studies Imam Bonjol Padang, West Sumatera, Indonesia, during the academic year 2015/2016. The “Predict Organize Search Summarize Evaluate” (POSSE is one strategy that can enhance students’ comprehension in reading. Two classes of Arabic and History students chosen through cluster random sampling technique were used as the sample of the research. Reading tests were used to collect the data which was given to both of classes on pre-test and post-test. The result of the research showed that the implementation of Predict Organize Search Summarize Evaluate strategy gave a significant difference in term of the students-learning outcome between the students who were taught through POSSE strategy and by traditional one. The finding of the study showed that teaching reading by using POSSE strategy gave significant effect towards students’ reading comprehension. This strategy could improve the students’ reading component on finding topic. It can be concluded that using POSSE Strategy has improved Indonesian students’ reading comprehension. It is also recommended for English lecturers use POSSE strategy as one of teaching strategies for reading comprehension.

Evaluating Effect of Knowledge Management Strategy on Human Resource Management Performance Using BSC Approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hossein Mansoori

2012-02-01

Full Text Available This research provided a model for evaluating the effect of knowledge management strategy on human resource management performance in higher education institutes and academic libraries. This research was a descriptive survey. According to the research literature and expert opinions, in human resource level, 38 indicators were produced for evaluating KM, then these indicators were classified in 10 total factors in terms of balanced scorecard approach. The results of evaluating knowledge management in Yazd academic libraries showed that, this strategy on customer perspectives, internal processes, learning and growth perspective had a good performance. But in terms of financial and Labor productivity indicators and training programs it did not have a good outcome for Yazd academic libraries.

Evaluation of operation strategies of hybrid systems; Avaliacao de estrategias de operacao de sistemas hibridos

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hauschild, Luciano; Zilles, Roberto [Universidade de Sao Paulo (USP), Sao Paulo, SP (Brazil). Inst. de Eletrotecnica e Energia. Lab. de Sistemas Fotovoltaicos]. E-mail: lucianoh@iee.usp.br

2006-07-01

This article evaluates the operation strategies of photovoltaic-eolic-diesel hybrid systems used for the rural area applied to two cases studies placed at the Cardoso Island, SP. The operation strategies evaluation is performed by simulation using data collected at the Cardoso Island such as electric power consumption profile and the solar and wind potential. With those data, simulation have been done considering different operation strategies and different levels of renewable energies penetration in the total energy produced by the system, in order to obtain system operation results such as Diesel oil consumption and depth of average discharge of the battery banks. From the simulation results an economic analysis have been done by using elements data from the cost of life average cycle (LAC) for determining which strategy is the most adequate for operation the electric power supply hybrid system.

Subscriber Number Forecasting Tool Based on Subscriber Attribute Distribution for Evaluating Improvement Strategies

OpenAIRE

Hiramatsu, Ayako; Shono, Yuji; Oiso, Hiroaki; Komoda, Norihisa

2005-01-01

In this paper, a subscriber number forecasting tool that evaluates quiz game mobile content improvement strategies is developed. Unsubscription rates depend on such subscriber attributes such as consecutive months, stages, rankings, and so on. In addition, content providers can anticipate change in unsubscription rates for each content improvement strategy. However, subscriber attributes change dynamically. Therefore, a method that deals with dynamic subscriber attribute changes is proposed. ...

Evaluation of a severe accident management strategy for boiling water reactors -- Drywell flooding

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yu, D.; Xing, L.; Kastenberg, W.E.; Okrent, D.

1994-01-01

Flooding of the drywell has been suggested as a strategy to prevent reactor vessel and containment failure in boiling water reactors. To evaluate the candidate strategy, this study considers accident management as a decision problem (''drywell flooding'' versus ''do nothing'') and develops a decision-oriented framework, namely, the influence diagram approach. This analysis chooses the long-term station blackout sequence for a Mark 1 nuclear power plant (Peach Bottom), and an influence diagram with a single decision node is constructed. The node probabilities in the influence diagram are obtained from US Nuclear Regulatory Commission reports or estimated by probabilistic risk assessment methodology. In assessing potential benefits compared with adverse effects, this analysis uses two consequence measures, i.e., early and late fatalities, as decision criteria. The analysis concludes that even though potential adverse effects exist, such as ex-vessel steam explosions and containment isolation failure, the drywell flooding strategy is preferred to ''do nothing'' when evaluated in terms of these consequence measures

Use of a fuzzy decision-making method in evaluating severe accident management strategies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jae, M.; Moon, J.H.

2002-01-01

In developing severe accident management strategies, an engineering decision would be made based on the available data and information that are vague, imprecise and uncertain by nature. These sorts of vagueness and uncertainty are due to lack of knowledge for the severe accident sequences of interest. The fuzzy set theory offers a possibility of handling these sorts of data and information. In this paper, the possibility to apply the decision-making method based on fuzzy set theory to the evaluation of the accident management strategies at a nuclear power plant is scrutinized. The fuzzy decision-making method uses linguistic variables and fuzzy numbers to represent the decision-maker's subjective assessments for the decision alternatives according to the decision criteria. The fuzzy mean operator is used to aggregate the decision-maker's subjective assessments, while the total integral value method is used to rank the decision alternatives. As a case study, the proposed method is applied to evaluating the accident management strategies at a nuclear power plant

Extreme value analysis for evaluating ozone control strategies.

Science.gov (United States)

Reich, Brian; Cooley, Daniel; Foley, Kristen; Napelenok, Sergey; Shaby, Benjamin

2013-06-01

Tropospheric ozone is one of six criteria pollutants regulated by the US EPA, and has been linked to respiratory and cardiovascular endpoints and adverse effects on vegetation and ecosystems. Regional photochemical models have been developed to study the impacts of emission reductions on ozone levels. The standard approach is to run the deterministic model under new emission levels and attribute the change in ozone concentration to the emission control strategy. However, running the deterministic model requires substantial computing time, and this approach does not provide a measure of uncertainty for the change in ozone levels. Recently, a reduced form model (RFM) has been proposed to approximate the complex model as a simple function of a few relevant inputs. In this paper, we develop a new statistical approach to make full use of the RFM to study the effects of various control strategies on the probability and magnitude of extreme ozone events. We fuse the model output with monitoring data to calibrate the RFM by modeling the conditional distribution of monitoring data given the RFM using a combination of flexible semiparametric quantile regression for the center of the distribution where data are abundant and a parametric extreme value distribution for the tail where data are sparse. Selected parameters in the conditional distribution are allowed to vary by the RFM value and the spatial location. Also, due to the simplicity of the RFM, we are able to embed the RFM in our Bayesian hierarchical framework to obtain a full posterior for the model input parameters, and propagate this uncertainty to the estimation of the effects of the control strategies. We use the new framework to evaluate three potential control strategies, and find that reducing mobile-source emissions has a larger impact than reducing point-source emissions or a combination of several emission sources.

Evaluation of an Adoption Strategy for a Healthy Diet Programme for Lower Vocational Schools

Science.gov (United States)

Bessems, Kathelijne M. H. H.; van Assema, Patricia; Paulussen, Theo W. G. M.; de Vries, Nanne K.

2011-01-01

This paper describes the evaluation of an adoption strategy for the school-based healthy diet programme Krachtvoer. Health promotion (HP) professionals from five Regional Public Health Services (RPHSs) in The Netherlands were asked to recruit a total of 25 schools to adopt the Krachtvoer programme in accordance with this strategy. Afterwards, they…

New strategy for evaluating grain cooking quality of progenies in dry bean breeding programs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bruna Line Carvalho

2017-04-01

Full Text Available The methodology available for evaluating the cooking quality of dry beans is impractical for assessing a large number of progenies. The aims of this study were to propose a new strategy for evaluating cooking quality of grains and to estimate genetic and phenotypic parameters using a selection index. A total of 256 progenies of the 13thcycle of a recurrent selection program were evaluated at three locations for yield, grain type, and cooked grains. Samples of grains from each progeny were placing in a cooker and the percentage of cooked grains was assessed. The new strategy for evaluating cooking quality was efficient because it allowed a nine-fold increase in the number of progenies evaluated per unit time in comparison to available methods. The absence of association between grain yield and percentage of cooked grains or grain type indicated that it is possible to select high yielding lines with excellent grain aspect and good cooking properties using a selection index.

Evaluation of SO2 compliance strategies at Virginia Power

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Presley, J.V.; Tomlinson, M.; Ulmer, R.H.

1992-01-01

This paper will address the process undertaken by Virginia Power to assess SO 2 control strategies available for complying with the Revised Clean Air Act. In April 1990, in anticipation of the passage of an amended Clean Air Act, Virginia Power assembled a task force of personnel from a wide cross section of the company. This task force was given the responsibility of providing an assessment of the requirements of the new legislation, evaluating compliance alternatives and providing recommendations for implementation of the least cost alternative. Twenty-four potential SO 2 compliance options were identified for evaluation for Phase I. These options included various levels of coal switching, gas co-firing and scrubbing. Each option was evaluated and compared to a base case which assumed no SO 2 control. As a result of our evaluations, the lowest cost and least risk approach to Phase I SO 2 compliance for Virginia Power appears to be to construct a scrubber for one unit (550 MW g ) at our Mt. Storm Power Station

Resource acquisition policy: Multiple account evaluation of electricity resource alternatives [and] resource acquisition strategy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1994-06-01

British Columbia Hydro has been directed by the provincial government to develop evaluation procedures to rank electricity resource alternatives in terms of their social benefits and costs, and to acquire resources on the basis of need. The current state of development of social costing at BC Hydro is detailed along with its application to the multiple account evaluation of resources. In this evaluation, BC Hydro's corporate costs, customer cost, transfer payments to the province, direct costs incurred by provincial or regional governments or other Crown agences, direct environmental impact costs from air emissions and land/water use, community and social impact costs, and economic development impacts are taken into account. The BC Hydro resource acquisition strategy is also described as it was developed in response to provincial policy on electricity supply from independent power producers. This strategy includes a determination of need, a decision to acquire need-determined resources either by itself or from a private sector developer, and decisions to acquire resources in advance of need for reasons such as economic opportunity, long-term strategies, or load displacement. Background information is included on calculation of air emissions costs. An illustrative example is provided of the multiple account evaluation of several types of resource projects. 1 fig., 5 tabs

Tools and strategies for engaging the supervisor in technology-supported work-based learning : evaluation research

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bianco, M.; Collis, Betty; Egan, Toby Marshall; Morris, Michael Lane; Inbakumar, Vinod

2004-01-01

This study reports the results of the formative evaluations of two computer-supported tools and the associated strategies for their use. Tools and strategies embedded in web-based courses can increase a supervisor’s involvement in helping employees transfer learning onto the workplace. Issues

Energy abatement in Chinese industry: Cost evaluation of regulation strategies and allocation alternatives

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xia, X.H.; Chen, G.Q.

2012-01-01

For Chinese industry, the costs of different energy consumption abatement scenarios are evaluated by the method of directional distance function. These scenarios are based on the combinations of regulation strategies and allocation alternatives—the former are sectors and provinces, and the latter include the five principles of average, intensity share, absolute share, discriminatory absolute and discriminatory intensity. For all the scenarios, the quantitative impacts in terms of output potential loss are calculated and compared. Due to less output potential loss for all the allocation alternatives, the sector regulation strategy is shown to be more effective than the province regulation strategy. It is also demonstrated that, among all the scenarios considered, the sector regulation based on the intensity share principle and the province regulation based on the absolute share principle are the two optimal. The performances of energy abatement allocation of the 11th and 12th Five Year Plans of China are assessed against the simulated scenarios. - Highlights: ► The costs of different energy consumption abatement scenarios are evaluated for Chinese industry. ► The impacts on all entities under all allocation alternatives are calculated and compared. ► The optimal scenarios for the different strategies are identified. ► The performances of the 11th and 12th Five Year Plans are assessed.

Milestone-specific, Observed data points for evaluating levels of performance (MODEL) assessment strategy for anesthesiology residency programs.

Science.gov (United States)

Nagy, Christopher J; Fitzgerald, Brian M; Kraus, Gregory P

2014-01-01

Anesthesiology residency programs will be expected to have Milestones-based evaluation systems in place by July 2014 as part of the Next Accreditation System. The San Antonio Uniformed Services Health Education Consortium (SAUSHEC) anesthesiology residency program developed and implemented a Milestones-based feedback and evaluation system a year ahead of schedule. It has been named the Milestone-specific, Observed Data points for Evaluating Levels of performance (MODEL) assessment strategy. The "MODEL Menu" and the "MODEL Blueprint" are tools that other anesthesiology residency programs can use in developing their own Milestones-based feedback and evaluation systems prior to ACGME-required implementation. Data from our early experience with the streamlined MODEL blueprint assessment strategy showed substantially improved faculty compliance with reporting requirements. The MODEL assessment strategy provides programs with a workable assessment method for residents, and important Milestones data points to programs for ACGME reporting.

Site descriptive modelling - strategy for integrated evaluation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Andersson, Johan

2003-02-01

The current document establishes the strategy to be used for achieving sufficient integration between disciplines in producing Site Descriptive Models during the Site Investigation stage. The Site Descriptive Model should be a multidisciplinary interpretation of geology, rock mechanics, thermal properties, hydrogeology, hydrogeochemistry, transport properties and ecosystems using site investigation data from deep bore holes and from the surface as input. The modelling comprise the following iterative steps, evaluation of primary data, descriptive and quantitative modelling (in 3D), overall confidence evaluation. Data are first evaluated within each discipline and then the evaluations are checked between the disciplines. Three-dimensional modelling (i.e. estimating the distribution of parameter values in space and its uncertainty) is made in a sequence, where the geometrical framework is taken from the geological model and in turn used by the rock mechanics, thermal and hydrogeological modelling etc. The three-dimensional description should present the parameters with their spatial variability over a relevant and specified scale, with the uncertainty included in this description. Different alternative descriptions may be required. After the individual discipline modelling and uncertainty assessment a phase of overall confidence evaluation follows. Relevant parts of the different modelling teams assess the suggested uncertainties and evaluate the feedback. These discussions should assess overall confidence by, checking that all relevant data are used, checking that information in past model versions is considered, checking that the different kinds of uncertainty are addressed, checking if suggested alternatives make sense and if there is potential for additional alternatives, and by discussing, if appropriate, how additional measurements (i.e. more data) would affect confidence. The findings as well as the modelling results are to be documented in a Site Description

Evaluation of coping strategies in established rheumatoid arthritis patients: emergence of concealment in an Asian cohort.

Science.gov (United States)

Chew, Elizabeth; Griva, Konstadina; Cheung, Peter P

2016-11-01

To evaluate coping strategies of Asian RA patients and their associations with health-related quality of life (HRQoL). A cross-sectional sample of patients with established RA was evaluated using measures of coping (Coping in Rheumatoid Arthritis Questionnaire [C-RAQ]; appraisal of coping effectiveness and helplessness), HRQoL (Mental and Physical Components [MCS/PCS] of the Short Form 12v2; Rheumatoid Arthritis Impact of Disease score [RAID]) and clinical/laboratory assessments. Principal component analysis was conducted to identify coping strategies. Multiple linear regression analyses were performed to evaluate the associations between coping strategies and HRQoL outcomes. The study sample comprised 101 patients, 81% female, 72.3% Chinese, mean age 54.2 ± 12.6 years. Five coping strategies were identified: Active problem solving (E = 5.36), Distancing (E = 2.30), Concealment (E = 1.89), Cognitive reframing (E = 1.55) and Emotional expression (E = 1.26). Concealment was consistently associated with PCS (r s = -0.23, P = 0.049), MCS (r s = -0.24, P = 0.04) and RAID (r s = 0.39, P culture-specific. Interventions should tailor psychosocial support needs to address not only coping strategies, but patients' perception of their coping. © 2016 Asia Pacific League of Associations for Rheumatology and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.

Balancing effluent quality, economic cost and greenhouse gas emissions during the evaluation of (plant-wide) control/operational strategies in WWTPs

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Flores Alsina, Xavier; Arnell, Magnus; Amerlinck, Youri

2014-01-01

The objective of this paper was to show the potential additional insight that result from adding greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to plant performance evaluation criteria, such as effluent quality (EQI) and operational cost (OCI) indices, when evaluating (plant-wide) control/operational strategies ...... evaluation criteria to compare and evaluate (plant-wide) control strategies in a WWTP for more informed operational decision making. © 2013 Elsevier B.V.......The objective of this paper was to show the potential additional insight that result from adding greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to plant performance evaluation criteria, such as effluent quality (EQI) and operational cost (OCI) indices, when evaluating (plant-wide) control/operational strategies...

Evaluating expansion strategies for startup European Union dairy farm businesses.

Science.gov (United States)

McDonald, R; Shalloo, L; Pierce, K M; Horan, B

2013-06-01

A stochastic whole-farm simulation model was used to examine alternative strategies for new entrant dairy farmers to grow and develop dairy farm businesses in the context of European Union (EU) milk quota abolition in 2015. Six alternative strategies were compared: remain static, natural growth expansion, waiting until after EU milk quota abolition to expand, a full-scale expansion strategy without milk quotas and not incurring super levy penalties, a full-scale expansion strategy with milk quotas and incurring super levy penalties, and once-a-day milking until EU milk quota abolition, followed by full-scale expansion. Each discrete whole farm investment strategy was evaluated over a 15-yr period (2013-2027) using multiple financial stability and risk indicators, including overall discounted farm business profitability, net worth change, return on investment, and financial risk. The results of this study indicate that, although associated with increased risk, dairy farm expansion will ensure the future profitability of the farm business. Within the context of EU milk quotas until 2015, the most attractive expansion strategy is to increase cow numbers while avoiding super levy fines using once-a-day milking techniques, increasing to the full capacity of the dairy farm once milk quotas are removed. In contrast, the results also indicate that dairy farms that remain static will experience a significant reduction in farm profitability in the coming year due to production cost inflation. Cash flow deficits were observed during the initial year of expansion and, therefore, rapidly expanding dairy farm businesses require a significant cash reserve to alleviate business risk during the initial year of expansion. The results of this analysis also indicate that dairy farm businesses that expand using lower cost capital investments and avoid milk quota super levy fines significantly reduce the financial risks associated with expansion. Copyright © 2013 American Dairy Science

Multi-criteria approval for evaluating landscape management strategies (Case study: Fruška Gora National Park)

OpenAIRE

Lakićević Milena D.; Srđević Bojan M.; Srđević Zorica B.

2015-01-01

This paper deals with the problem of multi-criteria evaluation of four management strategies for Fruška Gora National Park. The criteria set was defined in ac­cordance with the IUCN guidelines for management of national parks. Four strategies were evaluated by testing preference intensities for each alternative with the respect to each cri­terion. Alternatives with preference above the approval threshold were approved, and a multi-criteria approval matrix w...

Experiences of Peer Evaluation of the Leicester Teenage Pregnancy Prevention Strategy

Science.gov (United States)

Fleming, Jennie; Chong, Hannah Goodman; Skinner, Alison

2009-01-01

The Centre for Social Action was commissioned by the Leicester City Council to evaluate its Teenage Pregnancy Prevention Strategy. This was a multi-stage project with a central element of consulting with young people. This article outlines the process that was followed in order to recruit, train and support young people through the process of…

Evaluation of an effective multifaceted implementation strategy for elective single-embryo transfer after in vitro fertilization.

Science.gov (United States)

Kreuwel, I A M; van Peperstraten, A M; Hulscher, M E J L; Kremer, J A M; Grol, R P T M; Nelen, W L D M; Hermens, R P M G

2013-02-01

What is the relationship between the rate of elective single-embryo transfer (eSET) and couples' exposure to different elements of a multifaceted implementation strategy? Additional elements in a multifaceted implementation strategy do not result in an increased eSET rate. A multifaceted eSET implementation strategy with four different elements is effective in increasing the eSET rate by 11%. It is unclear whether every strategy element contributes equally to the strategy's effectiveness. An observational study was performed among 222 subfertile couples included in a previously performed randomized controlled trial. Of the 222 subfertile couples included, 109 couples received the implementation strategy and 113 couples received standard IVF care. A multivariate regression analysis assessed the effectiveness of four different strategy elements on the decision about the number embryos to be transferred. Questionnaires evaluated the experiences of couples with the different elements. Of the couples who received the implementation strategy, almost 50% (52/109) were exposed to all the four elements of the strategy. The remaining 57 couples who received two or three elements of the strategy could be divided into two further classes of exposure. Our analysis demonstrated that additional elements do not result in an increased eSET rate. In addition to the physician's advice, couples rated a decision aid and a counselling session as more important for their decision to transfer one or two embryos, compared with a phone call and a reimbursement offer (P implementation strategy does not always result in an increased effectiveness, which is in concordance with recent literature. This in-depth evaluation of a multifaceted intervention strategy could therefore help to modify strategies, by making them more effective and less expensive.

Evaluation strategies in CT scanning

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

In this talk, dimensional measurement results using different measuring strategies applied in different inspection software packages for volume and surface data analysis are presented. The influence of the strategy on the dimensional measurement is determined by calculating the measurement...... uncertainty. This investigation includes measurements of two industrial items, an aluminum pipe connector and a plastic toggle, a hearing aid component. These are measured using a commercial CT scanner. Traceability is transferred using tactile and optical coordinate measuring machines, which are used...

Energy evaluation of optimal control strategies for central VWV chiller systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jin Xinqiao; Du Zhimin; Xiao Xiaokun

2007-01-01

Under various conditions, the actual load of the heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems is less than it is originally designed in most operation periods. To save energy and to optimize the controls for chilling systems, the performance of variable water volume (VWV) systems and characteristics of control systems are analyzed, and three strategies are presented and tested based on simulation in this paper. Energy evaluation for the three strategies shows that they can save energy to some extent, and there is potential remained. To minimize the energy consumption of chilling system, the setpoints of controls of supply chilled water temperature and supply head of secondary pump should be optimized simultaneously

Developing a consumer evaluation tool of weight control strategy advertisements on the Internet.

Science.gov (United States)

Luevorasirikul, Kanokrat; Gray, Nicola J; Anderson, Claire W

2008-06-01

To develop two evaluation tools for weight loss and weight gain advertisements on the Internet in order to help consumers to evaluate the quality of information within these advertisements. One hundred websites identified by Internet search engines for weight loss and weight gain strategies (50 websites each) were evaluated using two specific scoring instruments, developed by adapting questions from the 'DISCERN' tool and reviewing all related weight control guidelines and advertising regulations. The validity and reliability of the adapted tools were tested. Our evaluation tools rated the information from most websites as poor quality (70%). In the case of weight loss strategies, statements about rapid (18%) and permanent (28%) weight loss caused concern as well as lack of sensible advice about dieting and a lack of product warnings (84%). Safety concerns relating to weight gain products were the lack of warnings about side effects in products containing steroids and creatine (92%). The adapted tools exhibited acceptable validity and reliability. Quality of information within weight control advertisements on the Internet was generally poor. Problems of false claims, little advice on healthy ways to modify weight and few warnings on side effects have been highlighted in this study.

EVALUATION OF COMPETITIVE STRATEGIES OF COFFEE RETAILING IN ASPECT OF MARKET ECONOMY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aslı ÖZTOPÇU

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Coffee retailers are trying to improve both their products and services and to increase their market share. Companies are both competing and developing different strategies such as issues production, R&D, business model, customers, and innovations. The aim of this study is to determine the competitive strategies in the coffee retailing aspect of the market economy. For this purpose, firstly, in this sector, the major competitors, suppliers, and customers were researched and the general structure of the sector was determined. Secondly, size of the global market, industry, and demand growth rate and the future status of the coffee retail industry were determined. Finally, the bargaining power of customers and suppliers of the sector were evaluated. According to the evaluation obtained, it was understood that coffee retailing is an attractive, large and dynamic sector. In the analysis according to the study of Porter’s five force model, important information was obtained for coffee retailing.

Construction and Evaluation of Scenarios as a Learning Strategy through Modelling-Simulation

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Juan Luis Peñaloza Figueroa

2014-12-01

Full Text Available From a systemic perspective and in the context of an increasing generalization in the use of new technologies and the change in the educational paradigm -which emphasizes guided and autonomous learning-, the learning strategy should be routed to join logical reasoning and instrumental skills (software. The inclusion of new computing and communication resources to the learning process turns them into teaching tools, which makes it possible to organize the teaching and learning process in a different way. The design of these new scenarios of study has important implications to the way information is processed, to the different levels of learning (descriptive, explanatory or analytical ones and to the way knowledge is acquired and evaluated. In addition, that design takes into account the greater student-content, student-student and student-teacher interactivities, always emphasizing guided independent learning. Thus, the construction, analysis and evaluation of scenarios through models and simulation are the strategy that best suits the current learning style followed by students.

Unlocking the “black box” of practice improvement strategies to implement surgical safety checklists: a process evaluation

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Gillespie BM

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Brigid M Gillespie,1–3 Kyra Hamilton,4 Dianne Ball,5 Joanne Lavin,6 Therese Gardiner,6 Teresa K Withers,7 Andrea P Marshall1–3 1School of Nursing & Midwifery, Griffith University, Gold Coast, 2Gold Coast University Hospital and Health Service, Southport, 3Nursing & Midwifery Education & Research Unit (NMERU, National Centre of Research Excellence in Nursing, Menzies Health Institute of Queensland, Griffith University, Gold Coast, 4School of Applied Psychology, Griffith University, Mt Gravatt, 5Communio Pty Ltd, Sydney, 6Nursing & Midwifery Education & Research Unit, 7Surgical and Procedural Services, Gold Coast University Hospital and Health Service, Southport, Australia Background: Compliance with surgical safety checklists (SSCs has been associated with improvements in clinical processes such as antibiotic use, correct site marking, and overall safety processes. Yet, proper execution has been difficult to achieve.Objectives: The objective of this study was to undertake a process evaluation of four knowledge translation (KT strategies used to implement the Pass the Baton (PTB intervention which was designed to improve utilization of the SSC. Methods: As part of the process evaluation, a logic model was generated to explain which KT strategies worked well (or less well in the operating rooms of a tertiary referral hospital in Queensland, Australia. The KT strategies implemented included change champions/opinion leaders, education, audit and feedback, and reminders. In evaluating the implementation of these strategies, this study considered context, intervention and underpinning assumptions, implementation, and mechanism of impact. Observational and interview data were collected to assess implementation of the KT strategies relative to fidelity, feasibility, and acceptability. Results: Findings from 35 structured observations and 15 interviews with 96 intervention participants suggest that all of the KT strategies were consistently

The process evaluation of two alternative participatory ergonomics intervention strategies for construction companies.

Science.gov (United States)

Visser, Steven; van der Molen, Henk F; Sluiter, Judith K; Frings-Dresen, Monique H W

2018-03-26

To gain insight into the process of applying two guidance strategies - face-to-face (F2F) or e-guidance strategy (EC) - of a Participatory Ergonomics (PE) intervention and whether differences between these guidance strategies occur, 12 construction companies were randomly assigned to a strategy. The process evaluation contained reach, dose delivered, dose received, precision, competence, satisfaction and behavioural change of individual workers. Data were assessed by logbooks, and questionnaires and interviews at baseline and/or after six months. Reach was low (1%). Dose delivered (F2F: 63%; EC: 44%), received (F2F: 42%; EC: 16%) were not sufficient. The precision and competence were sufficient for both strategies and satisfaction was strongly affected by dose received. For behavioural change, knowledge (F2F) and culture (EC) changed positively within companies. Neither strategy was delivered as intended. Compliance to the intervention was low, especially for EC. Starting with a face-to-face meeting might lead to higher compliance, especially in the EC group. Practitioner Summary: This study showed that compliance to a face-to-face and an e-guidance strategy is low. To improve the compliance, it is advised to start with a face-to-face meeting to see which parts of the intervention are needed and which guidance strategy can be used for these parts. ISRCTN73075751.

Soil Quality Indexing Strategies for Evaluating Sugarcane Expansion in Brazil.

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Cherubin, Maurício R; Karlen, Douglas L; Cerri, Carlos E P; Franco, André L C; Tormena, Cássio A; Davies, Christian A; Cerri, Carlos C

2016-01-01

Increasing demand for biofuel has intensified land-use change (LUC) for sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum) expansion in Brazil. Assessments of soil quality (SQ) response to this LUC are essential for quantifying and monitoring sustainability of sugarcane production over time. Since there is not a universal methodology for assessing SQ, we conducted a field-study at three sites within the largest sugarcane-producing region of Brazil to develop a SQ index (SQI). The most common LUC scenario (i.e., native vegetation to pasture to sugarcane) was evaluated using six SQI strategies with varying complexities. Thirty eight soil indicators were included in the total dataset. Two minimum datasets were selected: one using principal component analysis (7 indicators) and the other based on expert opinion (5 indicators). Non-linear scoring curves were used to interpret the indicator values. Weighted and non-weighted additive methods were used to combine individual indicator scores into an overall SQI. Long-term conversion from native vegetation to extensive pasture significantly decreased overall SQ. In contrast, conversion from pasture to sugarcane had no significant impact on overall SQ at the regional scale, but site-specific responses were found. In general, sugarcane production improved chemical attributes (i.e., higher macronutrient levels and lower soil acidity); however it has negative effects on physical and biological attributes (i.e., higher soil compaction and structural degradation as well as lower soil organic carbon (SOC), abundance and diversity of macrofauna and microbial activity). Overall, we found that simple, user-friendly strategies were as effective as more complex ones for identifying SQ changes. Therefore, as a protocol for SQ assessments in Brazilian sugarcane areas, we recommend using a small number of indicators (e.g., pH, P, K, Visual Evaluation of Soil Structure -VESS scores and SOC concentration) and proportional weighting to reflect chemical

Soil Quality Indexing Strategies for Evaluating Sugarcane Expansion in Brazil

Science.gov (United States)

Cherubin, Maurício R.; Karlen, Douglas L.; Cerri, Carlos E. P.; Franco, André L. C.; Tormena, Cássio A.; Davies, Christian A.; Cerri, Carlos C.

2016-01-01

Increasing demand for biofuel has intensified land-use change (LUC) for sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum) expansion in Brazil. Assessments of soil quality (SQ) response to this LUC are essential for quantifying and monitoring sustainability of sugarcane production over time. Since there is not a universal methodology for assessing SQ, we conducted a field-study at three sites within the largest sugarcane-producing region of Brazil to develop a SQ index (SQI). The most common LUC scenario (i.e., native vegetation to pasture to sugarcane) was evaluated using six SQI strategies with varying complexities. Thirty eight soil indicators were included in the total dataset. Two minimum datasets were selected: one using principal component analysis (7 indicators) and the other based on expert opinion (5 indicators). Non-linear scoring curves were used to interpret the indicator values. Weighted and non-weighted additive methods were used to combine individual indicator scores into an overall SQI. Long-term conversion from native vegetation to extensive pasture significantly decreased overall SQ. In contrast, conversion from pasture to sugarcane had no significant impact on overall SQ at the regional scale, but site-specific responses were found. In general, sugarcane production improved chemical attributes (i.e., higher macronutrient levels and lower soil acidity); however it has negative effects on physical and biological attributes (i.e., higher soil compaction and structural degradation as well as lower soil organic carbon (SOC), abundance and diversity of macrofauna and microbial activity). Overall, we found that simple, user-friendly strategies were as effective as more complex ones for identifying SQ changes. Therefore, as a protocol for SQ assessments in Brazilian sugarcane areas, we recommend using a small number of indicators (e.g., pH, P, K, Visual Evaluation of Soil Structure -VESS scores and SOC concentration) and proportional weighting to reflect chemical

Soil Quality Indexing Strategies for Evaluating Sugarcane Expansion in Brazil.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maurício R Cherubin

Full Text Available Increasing demand for biofuel has intensified land-use change (LUC for sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum expansion in Brazil. Assessments of soil quality (SQ response to this LUC are essential for quantifying and monitoring sustainability of sugarcane production over time. Since there is not a universal methodology for assessing SQ, we conducted a field-study at three sites within the largest sugarcane-producing region of Brazil to develop a SQ index (SQI. The most common LUC scenario (i.e., native vegetation to pasture to sugarcane was evaluated using six SQI strategies with varying complexities. Thirty eight soil indicators were included in the total dataset. Two minimum datasets were selected: one using principal component analysis (7 indicators and the other based on expert opinion (5 indicators. Non-linear scoring curves were used to interpret the indicator values. Weighted and non-weighted additive methods were used to combine individual indicator scores into an overall SQI. Long-term conversion from native vegetation to extensive pasture significantly decreased overall SQ. In contrast, conversion from pasture to sugarcane had no significant impact on overall SQ at the regional scale, but site-specific responses were found. In general, sugarcane production improved chemical attributes (i.e., higher macronutrient levels and lower soil acidity; however it has negative effects on physical and biological attributes (i.e., higher soil compaction and structural degradation as well as lower soil organic carbon (SOC, abundance and diversity of macrofauna and microbial activity. Overall, we found that simple, user-friendly strategies were as effective as more complex ones for identifying SQ changes. Therefore, as a protocol for SQ assessments in Brazilian sugarcane areas, we recommend using a small number of indicators (e.g., pH, P, K, Visual Evaluation of Soil Structure -VESS scores and SOC concentration and proportional weighting to reflect

Evaluating the effect of organization culture on the successful execution of strategies: Case study of Payam-e-Noor university

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Babak Monzavi

2013-07-01

Full Text Available In this research, we use Hofstede method and Noble’s framework in strategy execution to evaluate the effect of organization culture on the successful implementation of strategies in a case study of Payam-e-Noor University of Iran. Data Collection is performed with the standard Hofstede survey, an evaluation tool for organization culture, and researchers’ survey tool to evaluate the effective implementation of strategies. The reliability coefficient was calculated as 0.846 using the Cronbach alpha. The target population includes 600 senior managers of Payam-e-Noor university of Iran at the time of data collection Cochran formula was used to calculate the required sample number of 120 individuals. The results show that according to the Hofstede dimensions, the dominant cultural aspects of high power distance, uncertainty avoidance, collectivism, and femininity were identified. The first two have a direct influence on effectiveness of strategies. While individualism is known to have an invert effect on effectiveness of strategies, no connection was identified between masculinity and effectiveness of strategies, and thus, this theory was not confirmed in this research.

Process and outcomes evaluation of retention strategies within a nursing workforce diversity project.

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Escallier, Lori A; Fullerton, Judith T

2009-09-01

A commitment to enhancing the diversity of the nursing workforce is reflected in the recruitment and retention strategies designed by Stony Brook University with support of a grant received from the Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration. Three specific student retention strategies are evaluated in terms of their influence on student inclusion and promotion of student success. A review of the cultural competence of teaching and learning strategies and the promotion of cultural self-awareness underpinned these strategies. A mentorship program designed to provide individual support for students, particularly for those engaged in distance learning, proved to be challenging to implement and underused by students. Students found other means of support in their workplace and through individual connections with the faculty. Instructional programs that enhanced individual skills in the use of computer hardware and software were particularly effective in promoting student success.

Development of an evaluation method for optimization of maintenance strategy in commercial plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ito, Satoshi; Shiraishi, Natsuki; Yuki, Kazuhisa; Hashizume, Hidetoshi

2006-01-01

In this study, a new simulation method is developed for optimization of maintenance strategy in NPP as a multiple-objective optimization problem (MOP). The result of operation is evaluated as the average of the following three measures in 3,000 trials: Cost of Electricity (COE) as economic risk, Frequency of unplanned shutdown as plant reliability, and Unavailability of Regular Service System (RSS) and Engineering Safety Features (ESF) as safety measures. The following maintenance parameters are considered to evaluate several risk in plant operation by changing maintenance strategy: planned outage cycle, surveillance cycle, major inspection cycle, and surveillance cycle depending on the value of Fussel-Vesely importance measure. By using the Decision-Making method based on AHP, there are individual tendencies depending on individual decision-maker. Therefore this study could be useful for resolving the problem of maintenance optimization as a MOP. (author)

Evaluation of Ventilation Strategies in New Construction Multifamily Buildings

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Maxwell, S.; Berger, D.; Zuluaga, M.

2014-07-01

In multifamily buildings, particularly in the Northeast, exhaust ventilation strategies are the norm as a means of meeting both local exhaust and whole-unit mechanical ventilation rates. The issue of where the 'fresh' air is coming from is gaining significance as air-tightness standards for enclosures become more stringent, and the 'normal leakage paths through the building envelope' disappear. CARB researchers have found that the majority of high performance, new construction, multifamily housing in the Northeast use one of four general strategies for ventilation: continuous exhaust only with no designated supply or make-up air source, continuous exhaust with ducted make-up air to apartments, continuous exhaust with supply through a make-up air device integral to the unit HVAC, and continuous exhaust with supply through a passive inlet device, such as a trickle vent. Insufficient information is available to designers on how these various systems are best applied. Product performance data are based on laboratory tests, and the assumption is that products will perform similarly in the field. Proper application involves matching expected performance at expected building pressures, but there is no guarantee that those conditions will exist consistently in the finished building. This research effort, which included several weeks of building pressure monitoring, sought to provide field validation of system performance. The performance of four substantially different strategies for providing make-up air to apartments was evaluated.

The Evaluation of Surface Integrity During Machining of Inconel 718 with Various Laser Assistance Strategies

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Wojciechowski Szymon

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The paper is focused on the evaluation of surface integrity formed during turning of Inconel 718 with the application of various laser assistance strategies. The primary objective of the work was to determine the relations between the applied machining strategy and the obtained surface integrity, in order to select the effective cutting conditions allowing the obtainment of high surface quality. The carried out experiment included the machining of Inconel 718 in the conventional turning conditions, as well as during the continuous laser assisted machining and sequential laser assistance. The surface integrity was evaluated by the measurements of machined surface topographies, microstructures and the microhardness. Results revealed that surface integrity of Inconel 718 is strongly affected by the selected machining strategy. The significant improvement of the surface roughness formed during machining of Inconel 718, can be reached by the application of simultaneous laser heating and cutting (LAM.

Evaluation of Electric Power Procurement Strategies by Stochastic Dynamic Programming

Science.gov (United States)

Saisho, Yuichi; Hayashi, Taketo; Fujii, Yasumasa; Yamaji, Kenji

In deregulated electricity markets, the role of a distribution company is to purchase electricity from the wholesale electricity market at randomly fluctuating prices and to provide it to its customers at a given fixed price. Therefore the company has to take risk stemming from the uncertainties of electricity prices and/or demand fluctuation instead of the customers. The way to avoid the risk is to make a bilateral contact with generating companies or install its own power generation facility. This entails the necessity to develop a certain method to make an optimal strategy for electric power procurement. In such a circumstance, this research has the purpose for proposing a mathematical method based on stochastic dynamic programming and additionally considering the characteristics of the start-up cost of electric power generation facility to evaluate strategies of combination of the bilateral contract and power auto-generation with its own facility for procuring electric power in deregulated electricity market. In the beginning we proposed two approaches to solve the stochastic dynamic programming, and they are a Monte Carlo simulation method and a finite difference method to derive the solution of a partial differential equation of the total procurement cost of electric power. Finally we discussed the influences of the price uncertainty on optimal strategies of power procurement.

Risk evaluation and mitigation strategies: a focus on the mycophenolic acid preparations.

Science.gov (United States)

Rostas, Sara; Kim, Miae; Gabardi, Steven

2014-03-01

To review risks associated with mycophenolic acid (MPA) preparations and evaluate their required risk evaluation and mitigation strategies (REMS) elements. Articles were identified through a non-date-limited MEDLINE and EMBASE search using the terms fetal toxicity, teratogenicity, risk evaluation and mitigation strategies, REMS, MPA, mycophenolate mofetil, entericcoated MPA, and organ transplant. Information from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the manufacturers of the MPA preparations was also evaluated. The MPA preparations are associated with several potential risks, including gastrointestinal disturbances and myelosuppression; however, their impact on the fetus in pregnant patients taking 1 of these agents poses the greatest risk. The FDA approved REMS programs for all MPA products, both innovator and generic preparations, in September 2012. With evidence of increased risk of miscarriage and birth defects associated with MPA use, the FDA instituted a REMS program that contains both a medication guide and elements to assure safe use (ETASU). The medication guides for the MPA products, which were previously FDA approved, should continue to be distributed to patients who get either an initial prescription filled or a refill. The ETASU requires prescribers to complete training and obtain patient signatures on the Patient-Prescriber Acknowledgment Form. A single, national, voluntary pregnancy registry specific to this medication has been established, and pregnant patients should be encouraged to participate. Although the impact of the MPA REMS on clinical practice is not clear, it is a step toward increasing the understanding of fetal risks with MPA.

Soil sampling strategies: Evaluation of different approaches

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

De Zorzi, Paolo [Agenzia per la Protezione dell' Ambiente e per i Servizi Tecnici (APAT), Servizio Metrologia Ambientale, Via di Castel Romano, 100-00128 Roma (Italy)], E-mail: paolo.dezorzi@apat.it; Barbizzi, Sabrina; Belli, Maria [Agenzia per la Protezione dell' Ambiente e per i Servizi Tecnici (APAT), Servizio Metrologia Ambientale, Via di Castel Romano, 100-00128 Roma (Italy); Mufato, Renzo; Sartori, Giuseppe; Stocchero, Giulia [Agenzia Regionale per la Prevenzione e Protezione dell' Ambiente del Veneto, ARPA Veneto, U.O. Centro Qualita Dati, Via Spalato, 14-36045 Vicenza (Italy)

2008-11-15

The National Environmental Protection Agency of Italy (APAT) performed a soil sampling intercomparison, inviting 14 regional agencies to test their own soil sampling strategies. The intercomparison was carried out at a reference site, previously characterised for metal mass fraction distribution. A wide range of sampling strategies, in terms of sampling patterns, type and number of samples collected, were used to assess the mean mass fraction values of some selected elements. The different strategies led in general to acceptable bias values (D) less than 2{sigma}, calculated according to ISO 13258. Sampling on arable land was relatively easy, with comparable results between different sampling strategies.

Soil sampling strategies: Evaluation of different approaches

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

De Zorzi, Paolo; Barbizzi, Sabrina; Belli, Maria; Mufato, Renzo; Sartori, Giuseppe; Stocchero, Giulia

2008-01-01

The National Environmental Protection Agency of Italy (APAT) performed a soil sampling intercomparison, inviting 14 regional agencies to test their own soil sampling strategies. The intercomparison was carried out at a reference site, previously characterised for metal mass fraction distribution. A wide range of sampling strategies, in terms of sampling patterns, type and number of samples collected, were used to assess the mean mass fraction values of some selected elements. The different strategies led in general to acceptable bias values (D) less than 2σ, calculated according to ISO 13258. Sampling on arable land was relatively easy, with comparable results between different sampling strategies

Soil sampling strategies: evaluation of different approaches.

Science.gov (United States)

de Zorzi, Paolo; Barbizzi, Sabrina; Belli, Maria; Mufato, Renzo; Sartori, Giuseppe; Stocchero, Giulia

2008-11-01

The National Environmental Protection Agency of Italy (APAT) performed a soil sampling intercomparison, inviting 14 regional agencies to test their own soil sampling strategies. The intercomparison was carried out at a reference site, previously characterised for metal mass fraction distribution. A wide range of sampling strategies, in terms of sampling patterns, type and number of samples collected, were used to assess the mean mass fraction values of some selected elements. The different strategies led in general to acceptable bias values (D) less than 2sigma, calculated according to ISO 13258. Sampling on arable land was relatively easy, with comparable results between different sampling strategies.

Evaluation of three reagent dosing strategies in a photo-Fenton process for the decolorization of azo dye mixtures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Prato-Garcia, D.; Buitrón, Germán

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► Dosing strategies for a photo-Fenton process were evaluated. ► The dosing strategy had no effect of on the decolorization. ► The type of strategy influenced SUVA index, toxicity reduction and biodegradability. ► A continuous reagents supply was found to be the most adequate strategy. ► Decolorization as well as a less toxic and biodegradable effluent was produced. - Abstract: Three reagent dosing strategies used in the solar photo-assisted decolorization of a mixture of sulfonated dyes consisting of acid blue 113, acid orange 7 and acid red 151 were evaluated. Results demonstrated that the dosing strategy influenced both reagent consumption and the biodegradability and toxicity of the effluent. In one strategy (E 1 ), the Fenton's reactants were dosed in a punctual mode, while in the other two strategies (E 2 an E 3 ), the reactants were dosed continuously. In the E 2 strategy the reactants were dosed by varying the duration of the injection time. In the E 3 strategy, the reactants were dosed during 60 min at a constant rate, but with different concentrations. All cases showed that feeding the reactor between 40% and 60% of the maximal dose was sufficient to decolorize more than 90% of the mixture of azo dyes. The E 1 strategy was less effective for aromatic content reduction. Conversely, the continuous addition of the reagents (E 2 and E 3 strategies) improved the aromatic content removal. E 3 strategy was substantially more appropriate than E 1 strategy due to improved the effluent quality in two key areas: toxicity and biodegradability.

Design and evaluation of dynamic replication strategies for a high-performance data grid

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ranganathan, K.; Foster, I.

2001-01-01

Physics experiments that generate large amounts of data need to be able to share it with researchers around the world. High performance grids facilitate the distribution of such data to geographically remote places. Dynamic replication can be used as a technique to reduce bandwidth consumption and access latency in accessing these huge amounts of data. The authors describe a simulation framework that we have developed to model a grid scenario, which enables comparative studies of alternative dynamic replication strategies. The authors present preliminary results obtained with this simulator, in which we evaluate the performance of six different replication strategies for three different kinds of access patterns. The simulation results show that the best strategy has significant savings in latency and bandwidth consumption if the access patterns contain a moderate amount of geographical locality

A Novel Health Evaluation Strategy for Multifunctional Self-Validating Sensors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhengguang Shen

2013-01-01

Full Text Available The performance evaluation of sensors is very important in actual application. In this paper, a theory based on multi-variable information fusion is studied to evaluate the health level of multifunctional sensors. A novel conception of health reliability degree (HRD is defined to indicate a quantitative health level, which is different from traditional so-called qualitative fault diagnosis. To evaluate the health condition from both local and global perspectives, the HRD of a single sensitive component at multiple time points and the overall multifunctional sensor at a single time point are defined, respectively. The HRD methodology is emphasized by using multi-variable data fusion technology coupled with a grey comprehensive evaluation method. In this method, to acquire the distinct importance of each sensitive unit and the sensitivity of different time points, the information entropy and analytic hierarchy process method are used, respectively. In order to verify the feasibility of the proposed strategy, a health evaluating experimental system for multifunctional self-validating sensors was designed. The five different health level situations have been discussed. Successful results show that the proposed method is feasible, the HRD could be used to quantitatively indicate the health level and it does have a fast response to the performance changes of multifunctional sensors.

[Evaluation of the organization of health services as a strategy for the prevention and control of visceral leishmaniasis].

Science.gov (United States)

Barbosa, Miriam Nogueira; Guimarães, Eliete Albano de Azevedo; Luz, Zélia Maria Profeta da

2016-01-01

to evaluate the organization of health services as a strategy for the prevention and control of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) in Ribeirão das Neves, Minas Gerais, Brazil, from 2010 to 2012. this was a case study evaluation of the degree of implementation of a strategy for the integration of health care services, control of zoonosis and epidemiological surveillance; it consisted of observing the work process, interviewing health professionals and analysing secondary data from information systems. implementation was partially adequate (84%); in terms of structure, the human resources component had the worst evaluation (64%) whilst in terms of work process, evaluation was 80% for reorganization of care and 77% for surveillance; in the period 2010-2012 there was a 20% increase in reported cases of VL and a 20% reduction in the time interval between reporting a case and starting treatment. the strategy contributed to the improvement of the organization of VL prevention and control actions.

Evaluating a community saturation model of abstinence education: an application of social marketing strategies.

Science.gov (United States)

Tanner, John F; Anne Raymond, Mary; Ladd, Stacey D

2009-01-01

This study examines a community saturation program, a social marketing strategy, promoting abstinence education and evaluates the effects of this strategy on adolescents' attitudes and sexual behaviors. The study also examines components of the strategy to determine which program element was most influential. The Worth the Wait program was implemented in five counties in Texas beginning in 1999 for the first county and in 2000 and 2001 for the other four counties. A total of 2007 students in grades 7 through 12 were tracked and answered an end-of-the-year post-program survey after varying time periods of school program participation. Results indicate that a saturation program can be effective in reducing teen pregnancy.

Development and Evaluation of a Systems Thinking Education Strategy for Baccalaureate Nursing Curriculum: A Pilot Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Fura, Louise A; Wisser, Kathleen Z

Nurse educators are charged to develop and evaluate curricula on systems thinking to prepare future nurses to provide safe nursing care. The goal of this pilot study was to design and evaluate a four-hour educational strategy that prepares future professional nurses to use systems thinking approaches in the delivery of safe patient care. This study exposed prelicensure baccalaureate nursing students to systems thinking principles, which included didactic and experiential activities. A descriptive design was used to determine the effect of an on-campus educational strategy. A paired samples t-test revealed statistical significance from pretest to posttest.

Evaluation of design, leak monitoring, dnd NDEA strategies to assure PBMR Helium pressure boundary reliability - HTR2008-58037

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fleming, K. N.; Smit, K.

2008-01-01

This paper discusses the reliability and integrity management (RIM) strategies that have been applied in the design of the PBMR passive metallic components for the helium pressure boundary (HPB) to meet reliability targets and to evaluate what combination of strategies are needed to meet the targets. The strategies considered include deterministic design strategies to reduce or eliminate the potential for specific damage mechanisms, use of an on-line leak monitoring system and associated design provisions that provide a high degree of leak detection reliability, and periodic nondestructive examinations combined with repair and replacement strategies to reduce the probability that degradation would lead to pipe ruptures. The PBMR RIM program for passive metallic piping components uses a leak-before-break philosophy. A Markov model developed for use in LWR risk-informed in-service inspection evaluations was applied to investigate the impact of alternative RIM strategies and plant age assumptions on the pipe rupture frequencies as a function of rupture size. Some key results of this investigation are presented in this paper. (authors)

Engaging stakeholders in rehabilitation research: a scoping review of strategies used in partnerships and evaluation of impacts.

Science.gov (United States)

Camden, Chantal; Shikako-Thomas, Keiko; Nguyen, Tram; Graham, Emma; Thomas, Aliki; Sprung, Jennifer; Morris, Christopher; Russell, Dianne J

2015-01-01

To describe how stakeholder engagement has been undertaken and evaluated in rehabilitation research. A scoping review of the scientific literature using five search strategies. Quantitative and qualitative analyses using extracted data. Interpretation of results was iteratively discussed within the team, which included a parent stakeholder. Searches identified 101 candidate papers; 28 were read in full to assess eligibility and 19 were included in the review. People with disabilities and their families were more frequently involved compared to other stakeholders. Stakeholders were often involved in planning and evaluating service delivery. A key issue was identifying stakeholders; strategies used to support their involvement included creating committees, organizing meetings, clarifying roles and offering training. Communication, power sharing and resources influenced how stakeholders could be engaged in the research. Perceived outcomes of stakeholder engagement included the creation of partnerships, facilitating the research process and the application of the results, and empowering stakeholders. Stakeholder engagement outcomes were rarely formally evaluated. There is a great interest in rehabilitation to engage stakeholders in the research process. However, further evidence is needed to identify effective strategies for meaningful stakeholder engagement that leads to more useful research that positively impacts practice. Implications for Rehabilitation Using several strategies to engage various stakeholders throughout the research process is thought to increase the quality of the research and the rehabilitation process by developing proposals and programs responding better to their needs. Engagement strategies need to be better reported and evaluated in the literature. Engagement facilitate uptake of research findings by increasing stakeholders' awareness of the evidence, the resources available and their own ability to act upon a situation. Factors influencing

A Study of Student Completion Strategies in a Likert-Type Course Evaluation Survey

Science.gov (United States)

Gee, Nick

2017-01-01

This article investigates the motivations and strategies employed by respondents to a Likert-style course evaluation at a UK university. These attitude surveys, generating large amounts of quantitative data, are commonly used in quality assurance procedures across UK higher education institutions. Similar student survey results are now scrutinised…

Evaluation strategies for isotope ratio measurements of single particles by LA-MC-ICPMS.

Science.gov (United States)

Kappel, S; Boulyga, S F; Dorta, L; Günther, D; Hattendorf, B; Koffler, D; Laaha, G; Leisch, F; Prohaska, T

2013-03-01

Data evaluation is a crucial step when it comes to the determination of accurate and precise isotope ratios computed from transient signals measured by multi-collector-inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (MC-ICPMS) coupled to, for example, laser ablation (LA). In the present study, the applicability of different data evaluation strategies (i.e. 'point-by-point', 'integration' and 'linear regression slope' method) for the computation of (235)U/(238)U isotope ratios measured in single particles by LA-MC-ICPMS was investigated. The analyzed uranium oxide particles (i.e. 9073-01-B, CRM U010 and NUSIMEP-7 test samples), having sizes down to the sub-micrometre range, are certified with respect to their (235)U/(238)U isotopic signature, which enabled evaluation of the applied strategies with respect to precision and accuracy. The different strategies were also compared with respect to their expanded uncertainties. Even though the 'point-by-point' method proved to be superior, the other methods are advantageous, as they take weighted signal intensities into account. For the first time, the use of a 'finite mixture model' is presented for the determination of an unknown number of different U isotopic compositions of single particles present on the same planchet. The model uses an algorithm that determines the number of isotopic signatures by attributing individual data points to computed clusters. The (235)U/(238)U isotope ratios are then determined by means of the slopes of linear regressions estimated for each cluster. The model was successfully applied for the accurate determination of different (235)U/(238)U isotope ratios of particles deposited on the NUSIMEP-7 test samples.

[Educative strategy evaluation to improve critical reading skills on clinical research texts in second year gyneco-obstetrics residents].

Science.gov (United States)

Carranza Lira, Sebastián; Arce Herrera, Rosa María; González González, Patricia

2007-11-01

The educative models and strategies to achieve a significant learning have a wide variety. The development of clinical aptitude for clinical research papers lecture has an important place to maintain the physician actualized and for resident formation. To evaluate the degree of development of the aptitude for the reading of clinical research articles in 2nd grade residents of the gynecology and obstetrics speciality alter an educative strategy. In 16 2nd year gynecology and obstetrics residents, a previously validated instrument was applied for the evaluation of critical lecture of clinical research articles in general medicine previous and after and educative strategy. Statistical analysis was with Kruskal-Wallis analysis of variance. Also Wilcoxon test was used to assess the differences between baseline and final results. The median of age was 27 (24-31) years, gender 56.3% women and 43.8% men. A statistically significant increase in global score was observed after the educative strategy. After it only there was a significant increase in the indicator to interpret. After evaluating the domain degrees according to the indicator to interpret, in baseline evaluation it predominated the very low level and at the final evaluation the very low and low levels. In the indicator to judge at baseline the majority were in the very low level, and at the end in very low and low levels. According to the indicator to propose at baseline all were in the level expected by hazard, and at the end a minimal proportion was at very low level. These results traduce a discrete improvement in critical lecture process, which makes to consider the educative strategy that was used, since the objective to improve critical lecture capacity was not achieved.

Strategies towards Evaluation beyond Scientific Impact. Pathways not only for Agricultural Research

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Birge M. Wolf

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Various research fields, like organic agricultural research, are dedicated to solving real-world problems and contributing to sustainable development. Therefore, systems research and the application of interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approaches are increasingly endorsed. However, research performance depends not only on self-conception, but also on framework conditions of the scientific system, which are not always of benefit to such research fields. Recently, science and its framework conditions have been under increasing scrutiny as regards their ability to serve societal benefit. This provides opportunities for (organic agricultural research to engage in the development of a research system that will serve its needs. This article focuses on possible strategies for facilitating a balanced research evaluation that recognises scientific quality as well as societal relevance and applicability. These strategies are (a to strengthen the general support for evaluation beyond scientific impact, and (b to provide accessible data for such evaluations. Synergies of interest are found between open access movements and research communities focusing on global challenges and sustainability. As both are committed to increasing the societal benefit of science, they may support evaluation criteria such as knowledge production and dissemination tailored to societal needs, and the use of open access. Additional synergies exist between all those who scrutinise current research evaluation systems for their ability to serve scientific quality, which is also a precondition for societal benefit. Here, digital communication technologies provide opportunities to increase effectiveness, transparency, fairness and plurality in the dissemination of scientific results, quality assurance and reputation. Furthermore, funders may support transdisciplinary approaches and open access and improve data availability for evaluation beyond scientific impact. If they begin to

The Risk-Stratified Osteoporosis Strategy Evaluation study (ROSE)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rubin, Katrine Hass; Holmberg, Teresa; Rothmann, Mette Juel

2015-01-01

The risk-stratified osteoporosis strategy evaluation study (ROSE) is a randomized prospective population-based study investigating the effectiveness of a two-step screening program for osteoporosis in women. This paper reports the study design and baseline characteristics of the study population....... 35,000 women aged 65-80 years were selected at random from the population in the Region of Southern Denmark and-before inclusion-randomized to either a screening group or a control group. As first step, a self-administered questionnaire regarding risk factors for osteoporosis based on FRAX......(®) was issued to both groups. As second step, subjects in the screening group with a 10-year probability of major osteoporotic fractures ≥15 % were offered a DXA scan. Patients diagnosed with osteoporosis from the DXA scan were advised to see their GP and discuss pharmaceutical treatment according to Danish...

Risk evaluation and mitigation strategies: a focus on the mammalian target of rapamycin inhibitors.

Science.gov (United States)

Gabardi, Steven

2013-03-01

To review the history of risk evaluation and mitigation strategies (REMS) with the mammalian target of rapamycin (mToR) inhibitors, evaluate their required REMS elements, and delineate the reasons for them being released from their REMS requirements. Articles were identified through a literature search of MEDLINE and EMBASE (January 2007-July 2012) using the search terms: risk evaluation and mitigation strategies, REMS, everolimus, sirolimus and organ transplant (individual organs also were searched). Information from the Federal Register, the Food and Drug Administration, and the manufacturers of the mToR inhibitors was also evaluated. REMS are strategies implemented to manage known or potential risks associated with medications and to ensure ongoing pharmacovigilance throughout the life of a pharmaceutical product. The mToR inhibitors have been associated with several potential risks, including proteinuria, graft thrombosis, and wound-healing complications. The Food and Drug Administration approved REMS programs for both sirolimus and everolimus. The manufacturers of both medications complied with the components of their approved REMS, but after less than 2 years, both medications have been relieved of their REMS obligations. The only element of the sirolimus REMS was a medication guide, whereas the everolimus REMS consisted of a medication guide and a communication plan. The sirolimus REMS was implemented more than 10 years after its initial approval by the Food and Drug Administration, but was released from its REMS requirement within 7 months of its implementation. The everolimus REMS was instituted upon initial approval and was removed approximately 2 years later. Both medications' REMS were always intended to educate health care providers and patients about the potential risks associated with this transplant immunosuppressant. Transplant practitioners should be familiar with the mToR inhibitors' associated risks and properly educate patients regarding the

Modelling the transport system in China and evaluating the current strategies towards the sustainable transport development

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu, Wen; Lund, Henrik; Mathiesen, Brian Vad

2013-01-01

Transport is one of the most challenge sectors when addressing energy security and climate change due to its high reliance on oil products and lack of the alternative fuels. This paper explores the ability of three transport strategies to contribute to the development of a sustainable transport in China. With this purpose in mind, a Chinese transport model has been created and three current transport strategies which are high speed railway (HSR), urban rail transit (URT) and electric vehicle (EV) were evaluated together with a reference transport system in 2020. As conservative results, 13% of the energy saving and 12% of the CO 2 emission reduction can be attained by accomplishing three strategies compared with the reference transport system. However, the energy demand of transport in 2020 with the implementation of three strategies will be about 1.7 times as much as today. The three strategies show the potential of drawing the transport demand to the more energy efficient vehicles; however, more initiatives are needed if the sustainable transport is the long term objective, such as the solutions to stabilise the private vehicle demands, to continuously improve the vehicle efficiency and to boost the alternative fuels produced from the renewable energy sources. - Highlights: • A Chinese transport model was created and three transport strategies were evaluated • Transport is the biggest driver of the oil demand in China not the industry • The energy demand of transport in 2020 will be twice as much as today • Strategies contribute 13% energy saving and 12% CO 2 emission reduction • More initiatives are needed if a sustainable transport is the long-term objective

The eastern Baltic cod fishery: a fleet-based management strategy evaluation framework to assess the cod recovery plan of 2008

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bastardie, Francois; Nielsen, J. Rasmus; Kraus, Gerd

2010-01-01

The eastern Baltic cod fishery: a fleet-based management strategy evaluation framework to assess the cod recovery plan of 2008. - ICES Journal of Marine Science, 67: 71-86.......The eastern Baltic cod fishery: a fleet-based management strategy evaluation framework to assess the cod recovery plan of 2008. - ICES Journal of Marine Science, 67: 71-86....

Emissions and Fuel Consumption Modeling for Evaluating Environmental Effectiveness of ITS Strategies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yuan-yuan Song

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Road transportation is a major fuel consumer and greenhouse gas emitter. Recently, the intelligent transportation systems (ITSs technologies, which can improve traffic flow and safety, have been developed to reduce the fuel consumption and vehicle emissions. Emission and fuel consumption estimation models play a key role in the evaluation of ITS technologies. Based on the influence analysis of driving parameters on vehicle emissions, this paper establishes a set of mesoscopic vehicle emission and fuel consumption models using the real-world vehicle operation and emission data. The results demonstrate that these models are more appropriate to evaluate the environmental effectiveness of ITS strategies with enough estimation accuracy.

Evaluation of Differentiation Strategy in Shipping Enterprises with Simulation Model

Science.gov (United States)

Vaxevanou, Anthi Z.; Ferfeli, Maria V.; Damianos, Sakas P.

2009-08-01

The present inquiring study aims at investigating the circumstances that prevail in the European Shipping Enterprises with special reference to the Greek ones. This investigation is held in order to explore the potential implementation of strategies so as to create a unique competitive advantage [1]. The Shipping sector is composed of enterprises that are mainly activated in the following three areas: the passenger, the commercial and the naval. The main target is to create a dynamic simulation model which, with reference to the STAIR strategic model, will evaluate the strategic differential choice that some of the shipping enterprises have.

Evaluation of the Impact of Media Marketing Strategies on Continuing Education Enrollments. AIR Forum 1982 Paper.

Science.gov (United States)

Campbell, Jill F.; Spiro, Louis M.

The impact of media marketing strategies on continuing education enrollment at the State University of New York College at Brockport (SUNY-CB), was evaluated. The evaluation of advertising impacts used advertising records of SUNY-CB and other area colleges and a telephone questionnaire instrument. A stratified, random countywide sample, in…

Systematic review of economic evaluations of preparedness strategies and interventions against influenza pandemics.

Science.gov (United States)

Pérez Velasco, Román; Praditsitthikorn, Naiyana; Wichmann, Kamonthip; Mohara, Adun; Kotirum, Surachai; Tantivess, Sripen; Vallenas, Constanza; Harmanci, Hande; Teerawattananon, Yot

2012-01-01

Although public health guidelines have implications for resource allocation, these issues were not explicitly considered in previous WHO pandemic preparedness and response guidance. In order to ensure a thorough and informed revision of this guidance following the H1N1 2009 pandemic, a systematic review of published and unpublished economic evaluations of preparedness strategies and interventions against influenza pandemics was conducted. The search was performed in September 2011 using 10 electronic databases, 2 internet search engines, reference list screening, cited reference searching, and direct communication with relevant authors. Full and partial economic evaluations considering both costs and outcomes were included. Conversely, reviews, editorials, and studies on economic impact or complications were excluded. Studies were selected by 2 independent reviewers. 44 studies were included. Although most complied with the cost effectiveness guidelines, the quality of evidence was limited. However, the data sources used were of higher quality in economic evaluations conducted after the 2009 H1N1 pandemic. Vaccination and drug regimens were varied. Pharmaceutical plus non-pharmaceutical interventions are relatively cost effective in comparison to vaccines and/or antivirals alone. Pharmaceutical interventions vary from cost saving to high cost effectiveness ratios. According to ceiling thresholds (Gross National Income per capita), the reduction of non-essential contacts and the use of pharmaceutical prophylaxis plus the closure of schools are amongst the cost effective strategies for all countries. However, quarantine for household contacts is not cost effective even for low and middle income countries. The available evidence is generally inconclusive regarding the cost effectiveness of preparedness strategies and interventions against influenza pandemics. Studies on their effectiveness and cost effectiveness should be readily implemented in forthcoming events that

Systematic review of economic evaluations of preparedness strategies and interventions against influenza pandemics.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Román Pérez Velasco

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Although public health guidelines have implications for resource allocation, these issues were not explicitly considered in previous WHO pandemic preparedness and response guidance. In order to ensure a thorough and informed revision of this guidance following the H1N1 2009 pandemic, a systematic review of published and unpublished economic evaluations of preparedness strategies and interventions against influenza pandemics was conducted. METHODS: The search was performed in September 2011 using 10 electronic databases, 2 internet search engines, reference list screening, cited reference searching, and direct communication with relevant authors. Full and partial economic evaluations considering both costs and outcomes were included. Conversely, reviews, editorials, and studies on economic impact or complications were excluded. Studies were selected by 2 independent reviewers. RESULTS: 44 studies were included. Although most complied with the cost effectiveness guidelines, the quality of evidence was limited. However, the data sources used were of higher quality in economic evaluations conducted after the 2009 H1N1 pandemic. Vaccination and drug regimens were varied. Pharmaceutical plus non-pharmaceutical interventions are relatively cost effective in comparison to vaccines and/or antivirals alone. Pharmaceutical interventions vary from cost saving to high cost effectiveness ratios. According to ceiling thresholds (Gross National Income per capita, the reduction of non-essential contacts and the use of pharmaceutical prophylaxis plus the closure of schools are amongst the cost effective strategies for all countries. However, quarantine for household contacts is not cost effective even for low and middle income countries. CONCLUSION: The available evidence is generally inconclusive regarding the cost effectiveness of preparedness strategies and interventions against influenza pandemics. Studies on their effectiveness and cost

Evaluating the environmental sustainability of biomass-based energy strategy: Using an impact matrix framework

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Weldu, Yemane W., E-mail: ywweldem@ucalgary.ca [Faculty of Environmental Design, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta 2500, University Drive NW, T2N 1N4 (Canada); Assefa, Getachew [Faculty of Environmental Design, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta 2500, University Drive NW, T2N 1N4 (Canada); Athena Chair in Life Cycle Assessment in Design (Canada)

2016-09-15

A roadmap for a more sustainable energy strategy is complex, as its development interacts critically with the economic, social, and environmental dimensions of sustainable development. This paper applied an impact matrix method to evaluate the environmental sustainability and to identify the desirable policy objectives of biomass-based energy strategy for the case of Alberta. A matrix with the sustainability domains on one axis and areas of environmental impact on the other was presented to evaluate the nexus effect of policy objectives and bioenergy production. As per to our analysis, economic diversification, technological innovation, and resource conservation came up as the desirable policy objectives of sustainable development for Alberta because they demonstrated environmental benefits in all environmental impact categories, namely climate change, human health, and ecosystem. On the other hand, human health and ecosystem impacts were identified as trade-offs when the policy objectives for sustainability were energy security, job creation, and climate change. Thus, bioenergy can mitigate climate change but may impact human health and ecosystem which then in turn can become issues of concern. Energy strategies may result in shifting of risks from one environmental impact category to another, and from one sustainable domain to another if the technical and policy-related issues are not identified.

Evaluating the environmental sustainability of biomass-based energy strategy: Using an impact matrix framework

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Weldu, Yemane W.; Assefa, Getachew

2016-01-01

A roadmap for a more sustainable energy strategy is complex, as its development interacts critically with the economic, social, and environmental dimensions of sustainable development. This paper applied an impact matrix method to evaluate the environmental sustainability and to identify the desirable policy objectives of biomass-based energy strategy for the case of Alberta. A matrix with the sustainability domains on one axis and areas of environmental impact on the other was presented to evaluate the nexus effect of policy objectives and bioenergy production. As per to our analysis, economic diversification, technological innovation, and resource conservation came up as the desirable policy objectives of sustainable development for Alberta because they demonstrated environmental benefits in all environmental impact categories, namely climate change, human health, and ecosystem. On the other hand, human health and ecosystem impacts were identified as trade-offs when the policy objectives for sustainability were energy security, job creation, and climate change. Thus, bioenergy can mitigate climate change but may impact human health and ecosystem which then in turn can become issues of concern. Energy strategies may result in shifting of risks from one environmental impact category to another, and from one sustainable domain to another if the technical and policy-related issues are not identified.

An Evaluation of Strategies for Training Staff to Implement the Picture Exchange Communication System

Science.gov (United States)

Barnes, Clarissa S.; Dunning, Johnna L.; Rehfeldt, Ruth Anne

2011-01-01

The picture exchange communication system (PECS) is a functional communication system frequently used with individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders who experience severe language delays (Frost & Bondy, 2002). Few empirical investigations have evaluated strategies for training direct care staff how to effectively implement PECS with…

The evaluation of complex interventions in palliative care: an exploration of the potential of case study research strategies.

Science.gov (United States)

Walshe, Catherine

2011-12-01

Complex, incrementally changing, context dependent and variable palliative care services are difficult to evaluate. Case study research strategies may have potential to contribute to evaluating such complex interventions, and to develop this field of evaluation research. This paper explores definitions of case study (as a unit of study, a process, and a product) and examines the features of case study research strategies which are thought to confer benefits for the evaluation of complex interventions in palliative care settings. Ten features of case study that are thought to be beneficial in evaluating complex interventions in palliative care are discussed, drawing from exemplars of research in this field. Important features are related to a longitudinal approach, triangulation, purposive instance selection, comprehensive approach, multiple data sources, flexibility, concurrent data collection and analysis, search for proving-disproving evidence, pattern matching techniques and an engaging narrative. The limitations of case study approaches are discussed including the potential for subjectivity and their complex, time consuming and potentially expensive nature. Case study research strategies have great potential in evaluating complex interventions in palliative care settings. Three key features need to be exploited to develop this field: case selection, longitudinal designs, and the use of rival hypotheses. In particular, case study should be used in situations where there is interplay and interdependency between the intervention and its context, such that it is difficult to define or find relevant comparisons.

Evaluation of use of reading comprehension strategies to improve reading comprehension of adult college students with acquired brain injury.

Science.gov (United States)

Griffiths, Gina G; Sohlberg, McKay Moore; Kirk, Cecilia; Fickas, Stephen; Biancarosa, Gina

2016-01-01

Adults with mild to moderate acquired brain injury (ABI) often pursue post-secondary or professional education after their injuries in order to enter or re-enter the job market. An increasing number of these adults report problems with reading-to-learn. The problem is particularly concerning given the growing population of adult survivors of ABI. Despite the rising need, empirical evaluation of reading comprehension interventions for adults with ABI is scarce. This study used a within-subject design to evaluate whether adult college students with ABI with no more than moderate cognitive impairments benefited from using reading comprehension strategies to improve comprehension of expository text. Integrating empirical support from the cognitive rehabilitation and special education literature, the researchers designed a multi-component reading comprehension strategy package. Participants read chapters from an introductory-level college anthropology textbook in two different conditions: strategy and no-strategy. The results indicated that reading comprehension strategy use was associated with recall of more correct information units in immediate and delayed free recall tasks; more efficient recall in the delayed free recall task; and increased accuracy recognising statements from a sentence verification task designed to reflect the local and global coherence of the text. The findings support further research into using reading comprehension strategies as an intervention approach for the adult ABI population. Future research needs include identifying how to match particular reading comprehension strategies to individuals, examining whether reading comprehension performance improves further through the incorporation of systematic training, and evaluating texts from a range of disciplines and genres.

A Self-adaptive Dynamic Evaluation Model for Diabetes Mellitus, Based on Evolutionary Strategies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

An-Jiang Lu

2016-03-01

Full Text Available In order to evaluate diabetes mellitus objectively and accurately, this paper builds a self-adaptive dynamic evaluation model for diabetes mellitus, based on evolutionary strategies. First of all, on the basis of a formalized description of the evolutionary process of diabetes syndromes, using a state transition function, it judges whether a disease is evolutionary, through an excitation parameter. It then, provides evidence for the rebuilding of the evaluation index system. After that, by abstracting and rebuilding the composition of evaluation indexes, it makes use of a heuristic algorithm to determine the composition of the evolved evaluation index set of diabetes mellitus, It then, calculates the weight of each index in the evolved evaluation index set of diabetes mellitus by building a dependency matrix and realizes the self-adaptive dynamic evaluation of diabetes mellitus under an evolutionary environment. Using this evaluation model, it is possible to, quantify all kinds of diagnoses and treatment experiences of diabetes and finally to adopt ideal diagnoses and treatment measures for different patients with diabetics.

Evaluating alternative fuel treatment strategies to reduce wildfire losses in a Mediterranean area

Science.gov (United States)

Michele Salis; Maurizio Laconi; Alan A. Ager; Fermin J. Alcasena; Bachisio Arca; Olga Lozano; Ana Fernandes de Oliveira; Donatella Spano

2016-01-01

The goal of this work is to evaluate by a modeling approach the effectiveness of alternative fuel treatment strategies to reduce potential losses from wildfires in Mediterranean areas. We compared strategic fuel treatments located near specific human values vs random locations, and treated 3, 9 and 15% of a 68,000 ha study area located in Sardinia, Italy. The...

Use of decision trees for evaluating severe accident management strategies in nuclear power plants

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jae, Moosung [Hanyang Univ., Seoul (Korea, Republic of). Dept. of Nuclerar Engineering; Lee, Yongjin; Jerng, Dong Wook [Chung-Ang Univ., Seoul (Korea, Republic of). School of Energy Systems Engineering

2016-07-15

Accident management strategies are defined to innovative actions taken by plant operators to prevent core damage or to maintain the sound containment integrity. Such actions minimize the chance of offsite radioactive substance leaks that lead to and intensify core damage under power plant accident conditions. Accident management extends the concept of Defense in Depth against core meltdown accidents. In pressurized water reactors, emergency operating procedures are performed to extend the core cooling time. The effectiveness of Severe Accident Management Guidance (SAMG) became an important issue. Severe accident management strategies are evaluated with a methodology utilizing the decision tree technique.

Management strategy evaluation of pheromone-baited trapping techniques to improve management of invasive sea lamprey

Science.gov (United States)

Dawson, Heather; Jones, Michael L.; Irwin, Brian J.; Johnson, Nicholas; Wagner, Michael C.; Szymanski, Melissa

2016-01-01

We applied a management strategy evaluation (MSE) model to examine the potential cost-effectiveness of using pheromone-baited trapping along with conventional lampricide treatment to manage invasive sea lamprey. Four pheromone-baited trapping strategies were modeled: (1) stream activation wherein pheromone was applied to existing traps to achieve 10−12 mol/L in-stream concentration, (2) stream activation plus two additional traps downstream with pheromone applied at 2.5 mg/hr (reverse-intercept approach), (3) trap activation wherein pheromone was applied at 10 mg/hr to existing traps, and (4) trap activation and reverse-intercept approach. Each new strategy was applied, with remaining funds applied to conventional lampricide control. Simulating deployment of these hybrid strategies on fourteen Lake Michigan streams resulted in increases of 17 and 11% (strategies 1 and 2) and decreases of 4 and 7% (strategies 3 and 4) of the lakewide mean abundance of adult sea lamprey relative to status quo. MSE revealed performance targets for trap efficacy to guide additional research because results indicate that combining lampricides and high efficacy trapping technologies can reduce sea lamprey abundance on average without increasing control costs.

Practice Evaluation Strategies Among Social Workers: Why an Evidence-Informed Dual-Process Theory Still Matters.

Science.gov (United States)

Davis, Thomas D

2017-01-01

Practice evaluation strategies range in style from the formal-analytic tools of single-subject designs, rapid assessment instruments, algorithmic steps in evidence-informed practice, and computer software applications, to the informal-interactive tools of clinical supervision, consultation with colleagues, use of client feedback, and clinical experience. The purpose of this article is to provide practice researchers in social work with an evidence-informed theory that is capable of explaining both how and why social workers use practice evaluation strategies to self-monitor the effectiveness of their interventions in terms of client change. The author delineates the theoretical contours and consequences of what is called dual-process theory. Drawing on evidence-informed advances in the cognitive and social neurosciences, the author identifies among everyday social workers a theoretically stable, informal-interactive tool preference that is a cognitively necessary, sufficient, and stand-alone preference that requires neither the supplementation nor balance of formal-analytic tools. The author's delineation of dual-process theory represents a theoretical contribution in the century-old attempt to understand how and why social workers evaluate their practice the way they do.

An integrated approach to place Green Infrastructure strategies in marginalized communities and evaluate stormwater mitigation

Science.gov (United States)

Garcia-Cuerva, Laura; Berglund, Emily Zechman; Rivers, Louie

2018-04-01

Increasing urbanization augments impervious surface area, which results in increased run off volumes and peak flows. Green Infrastructure (GI) approaches are a decentralized alternative for sustainable urban stormwater and provide an array of ecosystem services and foster community building by enhancing neighborhood aesthetics, increasing property value, and providing shared green spaces. While projects involving sustainability concepts and environmental design are favored in privileged communities, marginalized communities have historically been located in areas that suffer from environmental degradation. Underprivileged communities typically do not receive as many social and environmental services as advantaged communities. This research explores GI-based management strategies that are evaluated at the watershed scale to improve hydrological performance by mitigating storm water run off volumes and peak flows. GI deployment strategies are developed to address environmental justice issues by prioritizing placement in communities that are underprivileged and locations with high outreach potential. A hydrologic/hydraulic stormwater model is developed using the Storm Water Management Model (SWMM 5.1) to simulate the impacts of alternative management strategies. Management scenarios include the implementation of rain water harvesting in private households, the decentralized implementation of bioretention cells in private households, the centralized implementation of bioretention cells in municipally owned vacant land, and combinations of those strategies. Realities of implementing GI on private and public lands are taken into account to simulate various levels of coverage and routing for bioretention cell scenarios. The effects of these strategies are measured by the volumetric reduction of run off and reduction in peak flow; social benefits are not evaluated. This approach is applied in an underprivileged community within the Walnut Creek Watershed in Raleigh, North

A guide to understanding and implementing risk evaluation and mitigation strategies in organ transplantation.

Science.gov (United States)

Gabardi, Steven; Tichy, Eric M

2013-03-01

To review the components of the Congressional mandate for risk evaluation and mitigation strategies (REMS) managed by the Food and Drug Administration and assess their impact on health care providers practicing within the organ transplant arena. A non-date-limited search of MEDLINE and EMBASE (January 2007-June 2012) was conducted by using the following search terms: risk evaluation and mitigation strategies, REMS, and organ transplant, including a query of the individual organs. Information from the Federal Register and the Food and Drug Administration was also evaluated. REMS are strategies implemented to manage known or potential risks associated with medications and to ensure ongoing pharmacovigilance throughout the life of a pharmaceutical product. Elements of REMS programs may consist of 3 levels: a medication guide, communication plan, and elements to assure safe use. A medication guide is used to help prevent serious adverse events, aid in patients' decision making, and enhance medication adherence. Communication plans help educate health care providers and encourage adherence with REMS. The elements to assure safe use is a restrictive process implemented when it is deemed necessary to ensure safe access for patients to products with known serious risks. In transplant medicine, REMS currently exist for belatacept (medication guide and communication plan) and the mycophenolic acid derivatives (medication guide and elements to assure safe use). REMS are another step in the evolution of the development and marketing of pharmaceutical agents. Use of REMS in solid-organ transplant is becoming common. Transplant clinicians must provide required patient education and become involved with other aspects of REMS implementation to reduce the serious risks of pharmaceuticals and to improve patients' outcomes.

An evaluation of the Australian Football League Central Australian Responsible Alcohol Strategy 2005-07.

Science.gov (United States)

Mentha, Ricky; Wakerman, Johne

2009-12-01

In 2004, the Australian Football League Central Australia (AFLCA) implemented the Responsible Alcohol Strategy (RAS), which aimed to decrease alcohol consumption at matches, and to promote healthy lifestyle messages to the youth of Central Australia participating in Australian Rules football. The evaluation adopted a pre- and post-implementation design to monitor a number of performance indicators. The evaluation analysed routinely collected data from AFLCA, its Security Company, Alice Springs Police Department and Alice Springs Hospital; we surveyed AFLCA staff, club officials and umpires; and undertook direct observation at AFLCA events. The volume of alcohol sold at matches decreased. Survey data indicate decreased alcohol related violence, improved spectator behaviour and decreased spectator attendances. Police data suggest declining alcohol-related and violent behaviours, but trends were not statistically significant. Alice Springs Hospital injury admission data indicate a non-significant interaction between year and season effect. In a community context of high alcohol consumption and high rates of interpersonal violence, the strategies implemented were successful in decreasing alcohol consumption and related undesirable behaviours at football games. However, these measures have resulted in unintended consequences: decreased numbers of spectators attending games, decreased canteen sales and falling sponsorship. The decreased revenue has raised serious issues about sustainability of the alcohol intervention, and stimulated discussions with government and others about strategies to maintain this important alcohol reduction policy.

TEMAS: fleet-based bio-economic simulation software to evaluate management strategies accounting for fleet behaviour

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ulrich, Clara; Andersen, Bo Sølgaard; Sparre, Per Johan

2007-01-01

TEMAS (technical management measures) is a fleet-based bio-economic software for evaluating management strategies accounting for technical measures and fleet behaviour. It focuses on mixed fisheries in which several fleets can choose among several fishing activities to target different stocks...

Empowered? Evaluating Japan's national energy strategy under the DPJ administration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Valentine, Scott; Sovacool, Benjamin K.; Matsuura, Masahiro

2011-01-01

In August 2009, after 54 years of virtually unbroken rule, Japan's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) was ousted from power by the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ). The DPJ's campaign platform included a pledge to facilitate extreme reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Yet, at the COP16 meeting in Cancun, Japan announced that it would not accept further emission reduction targets without broader commitment from all nations. This paper seeks to explain this dichotomy by employing a targeted stakeholder evaluation based on surveys with 321 Japanese citizens to assess the extent to which influential stakeholder groups in Japan supports a potentially costly transition to a low-carbon energy infrastructure amidst severe economic challenges that the nation faces. Findings help explain Japan's adversarial role in COP16 negotiations in Cancun, despite the stated GHG reduction ambitions of Japan's current ruling party. The analysis concludes that if the DPJ does embrace aggressive CO 2 reduction targets in the future, the strategic focus will likely mirror the former ruling party's energy policy of bolstering nuclear power generation capacity and promoting energy efficiency improvements while exhibiting lukewarm commitment to supporting capacity development in alternative sources of energy supply such as solar panels and wind turbines. - Research highlights: → Public consensus exists regarding which energy policy goals are important in Japan. → Minor perceptual differences are not of a catalytic nature. → Public consensus does not deviate significantly from past LDP energy policy. → Unlikely that the DPJ will pursue costly energy transition initiatives. → Likely that the DPJ energy strategy will be substantively similar to LDP strategy. → Any differences in strategy will focus on CO 2 reduction magnitude not substance.

Results-Oriented Evaluations: Their Uses, Their Limits and How They are Driving Implementers‘ Coping Strategies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michel Leroy

2015-01-01

Full Text Available While the use of monitoring and evaluation (M&E by media development implementers is well documented, organizations’ coping strategies to adapt to new environments in media and development still remain a relatively unexplored area. The article aims at showing how the theoretical lessons learnt by the industry have been put into practice and how a successful change can be driven within an organization using outside experts. A results-oriented culture of performance and service has been enforced since the 1990s in the EU. Evaluation systems have been a powerful catalyst in driving the transition from media support to media development and in making the latter more independent from broadcasters and donors. In recent years, changes in media assistance procedures and aims have profoundly modified the traditional landscape. This article will not question these changes, their origin and motivations. It will focus on implementers’ coping strategies to adapt (or not to these new procedures and aims and how results-oriented evaluations can drive the shift from outputs to outcomes in a changing media development sector. Can capitalizing on experience be considered a learning process that prepares for change and improves the design and implementation of projects? To what extent can it help to empower the operator as an organization? Referring to various concrete case studies from British, French and German media assistance, the article will focus on virtuous change – the circumstances that encourage structures, as well as donors who fund them, to better define and operationalize their strategies.

Identifying and assessing strategies for evaluating the impact of mobile eye health units on health outcomes.

Science.gov (United States)

Fu, Shiwan; Turner, Angus; Tan, Irene; Muir, Josephine

2017-12-01

To identify and assess strategies for evaluating the impact of mobile eye health units on health outcomes. Systematic literature review. Worldwide. Peer-reviewed journal articles that included the use of a mobile eye health unit. Journal articles were included if outcome measures reflected an assessment of the impact of a mobile eye health unit on health outcomes. Six studies were identified with mobile services offering diabetic retinopathy screening (three studies), optometric services (two studies) and orthoptic services (one study). This review identified and assessed strategies in existing literature used to evaluate the impact of mobile eye health units on health outcomes. Studies included in this review used patient outcomes (i.e. disease detection, vision impairment, treatment compliance) and/or service delivery outcomes (i.e. cost per attendance, hospital transport use, inappropriate referrals, time from diabetic retinopathy photography to treatment) to evaluate the impact of mobile eye health units. Limitations include difficulty proving causation of specific outcome measures and the overall shortage of impact evaluation studies. Variation in geographical location, service population and nature of eye care providers limits broad application. © 2017 National Rural Health Alliance Inc.

Development and Evaluation of a Computer-Based Learning Environment for Teachers: Assessment of Learning Strategies in Learning Journals

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Inga Glogger

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Training teachers to assess important components of self-regulated learning such as learning strategies is an important, yet somewhat neglected, aspect of the integration of self-regulated learning at school. Learning journals can be used to assess learning strategies in line with cyclical process models of self-regulated learning, allowing for rich formative feedback. Against this background, we developed a computer-based learning environment (CBLE that trains teachers to assess learning strategies with learning journals. The contents of the CBLE and its instructional design were derived from theory. The CBLE was further shaped by research in a design-based manner. Finally, in two evaluation studies, student teachers (N1=44; N2=89 worked with the CBLE. We analyzed satisfaction, interest, usability, and assessment skills. Additionally, in evaluation study 2, effects of an experimental variation on motivation and assessment skills were tested. We found high satisfaction, interest, and good usability, as well as satisfying assessment skills, after working with the CBLE. Results show that teachers can be trained to assess learning strategies in learning journals. The developed CBLE offers new perspectives on how to support teachers in fostering learning strategies as central component of effective self-regulated learning at school.

Evaluating surveillance strategies for the early detection of low pathogenicity avian influenza infections.

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Comin, Arianna; Stegeman, Arjan; Marangon, Stefano; Klinkenberg, Don

2012-01-01

In recent years, the early detection of low pathogenicity avian influenza (LPAI) viruses in poultry has become increasingly important, given their potential to mutate into highly pathogenic viruses. However, evaluations of LPAI surveillance have mainly focused on prevalence and not on the ability to act as an early warning system. We used a simulation model based on data from Italian LPAI epidemics in turkeys to evaluate different surveillance strategies in terms of their performance as early warning systems. The strategies differed in terms of sample size, sampling frequency, diagnostic tests, and whether or not active surveillance (i.e., routine laboratory testing of farms) was performed, and were also tested under different epidemiological scenarios. We compared surveillance strategies by simulating within-farm outbreaks. The output measures were the proportion of infected farms that are detected and the farm reproduction number (R(h)). The first one provides an indication of the sensitivity of the surveillance system to detect within-farm infections, whereas R(h) reflects the effectiveness of outbreak detection (i.e., if detection occurs soon enough to bring an epidemic under control). Increasing the sampling frequency was the most effective means of improving the timeliness of detection (i.e., it occurs earlier), whereas increasing the sample size increased the likelihood of detection. Surveillance was only effective in preventing an epidemic if actions were taken within two days of sampling. The strategies were not affected by the quality of the diagnostic test, although performing both serological and virological assays increased the sensitivity of active surveillance. Early detection of LPAI outbreaks in turkeys can be achieved by increasing the sampling frequency for active surveillance, though very frequent sampling may not be sustainable in the long term. We suggest that, when no LPAI virus is circulating yet and there is a low risk of virus introduction

Evaluating surveillance strategies for the early detection of low pathogenicity avian influenza infections.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Arianna Comin

Full Text Available In recent years, the early detection of low pathogenicity avian influenza (LPAI viruses in poultry has become increasingly important, given their potential to mutate into highly pathogenic viruses. However, evaluations of LPAI surveillance have mainly focused on prevalence and not on the ability to act as an early warning system. We used a simulation model based on data from Italian LPAI epidemics in turkeys to evaluate different surveillance strategies in terms of their performance as early warning systems. The strategies differed in terms of sample size, sampling frequency, diagnostic tests, and whether or not active surveillance (i.e., routine laboratory testing of farms was performed, and were also tested under different epidemiological scenarios. We compared surveillance strategies by simulating within-farm outbreaks. The output measures were the proportion of infected farms that are detected and the farm reproduction number (R(h. The first one provides an indication of the sensitivity of the surveillance system to detect within-farm infections, whereas R(h reflects the effectiveness of outbreak detection (i.e., if detection occurs soon enough to bring an epidemic under control. Increasing the sampling frequency was the most effective means of improving the timeliness of detection (i.e., it occurs earlier, whereas increasing the sample size increased the likelihood of detection. Surveillance was only effective in preventing an epidemic if actions were taken within two days of sampling. The strategies were not affected by the quality of the diagnostic test, although performing both serological and virological assays increased the sensitivity of active surveillance. Early detection of LPAI outbreaks in turkeys can be achieved by increasing the sampling frequency for active surveillance, though very frequent sampling may not be sustainable in the long term. We suggest that, when no LPAI virus is circulating yet and there is a low risk of virus

Multiple imputation strategies for zero-inflated cost data in economic evaluations : which method works best?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

MacNeil Vroomen, Janet; Eekhout, Iris; Dijkgraaf, Marcel G; van Hout, Hein; de Rooij, Sophia E; Heymans, Martijn W; Bosmans, Judith E

2016-01-01

Cost and effect data often have missing data because economic evaluations are frequently added onto clinical studies where cost data are rarely the primary outcome. The objective of this article was to investigate which multiple imputation strategy is most appropriate to use for missing

Virtual environment to evaluate multimodal feedback strategies for augmented navigation of the visually impaired.

Science.gov (United States)

Hara, Masayuki; Shokur, Solaiman; Yamamoto, Akio; Higuchi, Toshiro; Gassert, Roger; Bleuler, Hannes

2010-01-01

This paper proposes a novel experimental environment to evaluate multimodal feedback strategies for augmented navigation of the visually impaired. The environment consists of virtual obstacles and walls, an optical tracking system and a simple device with audio and vibrotactile feedback that interacts with the virtual environment, and presents many advantages in terms of safety, flexibility, control over experimental parameters and cost. The subject can freely move in an empty room, while the position of head and arm are tracked in real time. A virtual environment (walls, obstacles) is randomly generated, and audio and vibrotactile feedback are given according to the distance from the subjects arm to the virtual walls/objects. We investigate the applicability of our environment using a simple, commercially available feedback device. Experiments with unimpaired subjects show that it is possible to use the setup to "blindly" navigate in an unpredictable virtual environment. This validates the environment as a test platform to investigate navigation and exploration strategies of the visually impaired, and to evaluate novel technologies for augmented navigation.

Thermo economical evaluation of retrofitting strategies in air conditioning systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tribess, Arlindo; Fiorelli, Flavio Augusto Sanzogo; Hernandez Neto, Alberto [Sao Paulo Univ., SP (Brazil). Escola Politecnica. Dept. de Engenharia Mecanica]. E-mail: atribess@usp.br; fiorelli@usp.br; ahneto@usp.br

2000-07-01

In a building project, several subsystems are designed, among them the air conditioning system. Electrical energy consumption profiles show that this subsystem is responsible for 40 to 50% of total consumption in a commercial building. Besides the study of technical aspects that should be considered in order to assure the thermal comfort of the occupants as well the temperature and humidity conditions for an efficient equipment operation, an economical evaluation of this subsystem should be also made. In retrofit projects, the economical aspect is also critical for such projects in order to assure bigger efficiency in an economically attractive way. This paper analyses some strategies that might be adopted in retrofitting an air conditioning system installed in a commercial building with mixed occupation. By mixed we mean that some floors have a typical office occupation profile and other floors are mainly occupied by electronic equipment. This analysis includes both technical and economical evaluation. The proposed solutions performance are compared to the old system, which allows to verify the retrofitting impact in energy consumption reduction and its economical feasibility. (author)

Evaluation of Rehabilitation Strategies and Management Schemes for the Improvement of Mangrove Management Programs in Lingayen Gulf

OpenAIRE

Severino Salmo III; Dante Torio; Janalezza Morvenna Esteban

2007-01-01

We evaluated the mangrove rehabilitation strategies and management schemes in five municipalities in Lingayen Gulf (Bolinao, Anda, Bani, Alaminos and San Fernando). Mangrove planting appears to be the first and only option used in the area, ignoring other recommended management strategies, e.g. conservation, landscaping, and sustainable production. All planting sites were located in coastal fringes and are mostly monospeficic stands of the species Rhizophora mucronata. The planted mangroves w...

Dosimetric and geometric evaluation of a hybrid strategy of offline adaptive planning and online image guidance for prostate cancer radiotherapy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu Han; Wu Qiuwen

2011-01-01

For prostate cancer patients, online image-guided (IG) radiotherapy has been widely used in clinic to correct the translational inter-fractional motion at each treatment fraction. For uncertainties that cannot be corrected online, such as rotation and deformation of the target volume, margins are still required to be added to the clinical target volume (CTV) for the treatment planning. Offline adaptive radiotherapy has been implemented to optimize the treatment for each individual patient based on the measurements at early stages of treatment process. It has been shown that offline adaptive radiotherapy can effectively reduce the required margin. Recently a hybrid strategy of offline adaptive replanning and online IG was proposed and the geometric evaluation was performed. It was found that the planning margins can further be reduced by 1-2 mm compared to online IG only strategy. The purpose of this study was to investigate the dosimetric benefits of such a hybrid strategy on the target and organs at risk. A total of 420 repeated helical computed tomography scans from 28 patients were included in the study. Both low-risk patients (LRP, CTV = prostate) and intermediate-risk patients (IRP, CTV = prostate + seminal vesicles, SV) were included in the simulation. Two registration methods, based on center-of-mass shift of prostate only and prostate plus SV, were performed for IRP. The intensity-modulated radiotherapy was used in the simulation. Criteria on both cumulative and fractional doses were evaluated. Furthermore, the geometric evaluation was extended to investigate the optimal number of fractions necessary to construct the internal target volume (ITV) for the hybrid strategy. The dosimetric margin improvement was smaller than its geometric counterpart and was in the range of 0-1 mm. The optimal number of fractions necessary for the ITV construction is 2 for LRPs and 3-4 for IRPs in a hypofractionation protocol. A new cumulative index of target volume was proposed

Risk evaluation mitigation strategies: the evolution of risk management policy.

Science.gov (United States)

Hollingsworth, Kristen; Toscani, Michael

2013-04-01

The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has the primary regulatory responsibility to ensure that medications are safe and effective both prior to drug approval and while the medication is being actively marketed by manufacturers. The responsibility for safe medications prior to marketing was signed into law in 1938 under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act; however, a significant risk management evolution has taken place since 1938. Additional federal rules, entitled the Food and Drug Administration Amendments Act, were established in 2007 and extended the government's oversight through the addition of a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) for certain drugs. REMS is a mandated strategy to manage a known or potentially serious risk associated with a medication or biological product. Reasons for this extension of oversight were driven primarily by the FDA's movement to ensure that patients and providers are better informed of drug therapies and their specific benefits and risks prior to initiation. This article provides an historical perspective of the evolution of medication risk management policy and includes a review of REMS programs, an assessment of the positive and negative aspects of REMS, and provides suggestions for planning and measuring outcomes. In particular, this publication presents an overview of the evolution of the REMS program and its implications.

Evaluability Assessment of an immunization improvement strategy in rural Burkina Faso: intervention theory versus reality, information need and evaluations.

Science.gov (United States)

Sanou, Aboubakary; Kouyaté, Bocar; Bibeau, Gilles; Nguyen, Vinh-Kim

2011-08-01

An innovative immunization improvement strategy was proposed by the CRSN (Centre de Recherche en Santé de Nouna) to improve the low coverage rate for children aged 0-11 months in the health district of Nouna in Burkina Faso. This article reports on the Evaluability Assessment (EA) study that aimed to orient decisions for its evaluation in close relationship with the information needs of the stakeholders. Various methods were used, including document reviews, individual interviews, focus group discussions, meetings, literature reviews and site visits. A description of the intervention theory and philosophy is provided with its logic models and its reality documented. Lessons on the procedure include the importance of the position of the evaluability assessor, the value of replicating some steps of the assessment and the relationships between EA and process evaluation. The evaluability study concludes that the intervention had some evaluable components. To satisfy the stakeholders' needs, the initially planned community randomized controlled trial can be maintained and complemented with a process evaluation. There is a need to provide sufficient information on the cost of the intervention. This will inform decision makers on the possibility of replicating the intervention in other contexts. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Comparison of calibration strategies for optical 3D scanners based on structured light projection using a new evaluation methodology

Science.gov (United States)

Bräuer-Burchardt, Christian; Ölsner, Sandy; Kühmstedt, Peter; Notni, Gunther

2017-06-01

In this paper a new evaluation strategy for optical 3D scanners based on structured light projection is introduced. It can be used for the characterization of the expected measurement accuracy. Compared to the procedure proposed in the VDI/VDE guidelines for optical 3D measurement systems based on area scanning it requires less effort and provides more impartiality. The methodology is suitable for the evaluation of sets of calibration parameters, which mainly determine the quality of the measurement result. It was applied to several calibrations of a mobile stereo camera based optical 3D scanner. The performed calibrations followed different strategies regarding calibration bodies and arrangement of the observed scene. The results obtained by the different calibration strategies are discussed and suggestions concerning future work on this area are given.

Strategies and Exemplars for Public Outreach Events: Planning, Implementation, Evaluation

Science.gov (United States)

Cobb, W. H.; Buxner, S.; Shipp, S. S.; Shebby, S.

2015-12-01

IntroductionEach year the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) sponsors a variety of public outreach events to share information with educators, students, and the general public. These events are designed to increase interest in and awareness of the mission and goals of NASA. Planning and implementation best practices gleaned from the NASA SMD Education's review of large-scale events, "Best Practices in Outreach Events" will be shared. Outcomes from an event, i C Ceres, celebrating the Dawn mission's arrival at dwarf planet Ceres that utilized these strategies will be shared. Best practices included can be pertinent for all event organizers and evaluators regardless of event size. BackgroundThe literature review focused on identifying evaluations of large-scale public outreach events—and, within these evaluations, identifying best practices. The following criteria for identifying journal articles and reports to potentially include: Public, science-related events open to adults and children. Events with more than 1,000 attendees. Events that occurred during the last 5 years. Evaluations that included information on data collected from visitors and/or volunteers. Evaluations that specified the type of data collected, methodology, and associated results. Planning and Implementation Best PracticesThe literature review revealed key considerations for planning and of large-scale events implementing events. A summary of related best practices is presented below. 1) Advertise the event 2) Use and advertise access to scientists 3) Recruit scientists using these findings 4) Ensure that the event is group and particularly child friendly 5) Target specific event outcomes Best Practices Informing Real-world Planning, Implementation and EvaluationDawn mission's collaborative design of a series of events, i C Ceres, including in-person, interactive events geared to families and live presentations will be shared. Outcomes and lessons learned will be imparted

Evaluating alternative gait strategies using evolutionary robotics.

Science.gov (United States)

Sellers, William I; Dennis, Louise A; W -J, Wang; Crompton, Robin H

2004-05-01

Evolutionary robotics is a branch of artificial intelligence concerned with the automatic generation of autonomous robots. Usually the form of the robot is predefined and various computational techniques are used to control the machine's behaviour. One aspect is the spontaneous generation of walking in legged robots and this can be used to investigate the mechanical requirements for efficient walking in bipeds. This paper demonstrates a bipedal simulator that spontaneously generates walking and running gaits. The model can be customized to represent a range of hominoid morphologies and used to predict performance parameters such as preferred speed and metabolic energy cost. Because it does not require any motion capture data it is particularly suitable for investigating locomotion in fossil animals. The predictions for modern humans are highly accurate in terms of energy cost for a given speed and thus the values predicted for other bipeds are likely to be good estimates. To illustrate this the cost of transport is calculated for Australopithecus afarensis. The model allows the degree of maximum extension at the knee to be varied causing the model to adopt walking gaits varying from chimpanzee-like to human-like. The energy costs associated with these gait choices can thus be calculated and this information used to evaluate possible locomotor strategies in early hominids.

Evaluation and comparison of New 4DCT based strategies for proton treatment planning for lung tumors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, Ning; Patyal, Baldev; Ghebremedhin, Abiel; Bush, David

2013-01-01

To evaluate different strategies for proton lung treatment planning based on four-dimensional CT (4DCT) scans. Twelve cases, involving only gross tumor volumes (GTV), were evaluated. Single image sets of (1) maximum intensity projection (MIP3) of end inhale (EI), middle exhale (ME) and end exhale (EE) images; (2) average intensity projection (AVG) of all phase images; and (3) EE images from 4DCT scans were selected as primary images for proton treatment planning. Internal target volumes (ITVs) outlined by a clinician were imported into MIP3, AVG, and EE images as planning targets. Initially, treatment uncertainties were not included in planning. Each plan was imported into phase images of 4DCT scans. Relative volumes of GTVs covered by 95% of prescribed dose and mean ipsilateral lung dose of a phase image obtained by averaging the dose in inspiration and expiration phases were used to evaluate the quality of a plan for a particular case. For comparing different planning strategies, the mean of the averaged relative volumes of GTVs covered by 95% of prescribed dose and its standard deviation for each planning strategy for all cases were used. Then, treatment uncertainties were included in planning. Each plan was recalculated in phase images of 4DCT scans. Same strategies were used for plan evaluation except dose-volume histograms of the planning target volumes (PTVs) instead of GTVs were used and the mean and standard deviation of the relative volumes of PTVs covered by 95% of prescribed dose and the ipsilateral lung dose were used to compare different planning strategies. MIP3 plans without treatment uncertainties yielded 96.7% of the mean relative GTV covered by 95% of prescribed dose (standard deviations of 5.7% for all cases). With treatment uncertainties, MIP3 plans yielded 99.5% of mean relative PTV covered by 95% of prescribed dose (standard deviations of 0.7%). Inclusion of treatment uncertainties improved PTV dose coverage but also increased the ipsilateral

Evaluation of Advanced Data Centre Power Management Strategies

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Postema, Björn F.; Haverkort, Boudewijn R.

2018-01-01

In recent work, we proposed a new specification language for power management strategies as an extension to our AnyLogic-based simulation framework for the trade-off analysis of power and performance in data centres. In this paper, we study the quality of such advanced power management strategies

Evaluation of cognitive loads imposed by traditional paper-based and innovative computer-based instructional strategies.

Science.gov (United States)

Khalil, Mohammed K; Mansour, Mahmoud M; Wilhite, Dewey R

2010-01-01

Strategies of presenting instructional information affect the type of cognitive load imposed on the learner's working memory. Effective instruction reduces extraneous (ineffective) cognitive load and promotes germane (effective) cognitive load. Eighty first-year students from two veterinary schools completed a two-section questionnaire that evaluated their perspectives on the educational value of a computer-based instructional program. They compared the difference between cognitive loads imposed by paper-based and computer-based instructional strategies used to teach the anatomy of the canine skeleton. Section I included 17 closed-ended items, rated on a five-point Likert scale, that assessed the use of graphics, content, and the learning process. Section II included a nine-point mental effort rating scale to measure the level of difficulty of instruction; students were asked to indicate the amount of mental effort invested in the learning task using both paper-based and computer-based presentation formats. The closed-ended data were expressed as means and standard deviations. A paired t test with an alpha level of 0.05 was used to determine the overall mean difference between the two presentation formats. Students positively evaluated their experience with the computer-based instructional program with a mean score of 4.69 (SD=0.53) for use of graphics, 4.70 (SD=0.56) for instructional content, and 4.45 (SD=0.67) for the learning process. The mean difference of mental effort (1.50) between the two presentation formats was significant, t=8.26, p≤.0001, df=76, for two-tailed distribution. Consistent with cognitive load theory, innovative computer-based instructional strategies decrease extraneous cognitive load compared with traditional paper-based instructional strategies.

Evaluation of Increasing Antecedent Specificity in Goal Statements on Adherence to Positive Behavior-Management Strategies

Science.gov (United States)

Cohrs, Corey M.; Shriver, Mark D.; Burke, Raymond V.; Allen, Keith D.

2016-01-01

We evaluated the impact of antecedent specificity in goal statements on adherence to positive behavior-management strategies. Teaching staff were recruited from 2 different school settings where there were routine expectations to use behavior-specific praise in the classroom, but adherence was poor. In a concurrent multiple baseline design, the…

Evaluation of Heliostat Standby Aiming Strategies to Reduce Avian Flux Hazards and Impacts on Operational Performance

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wendelin, Timothy J [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Ho, Clifford K. [Sandia National Laboratories; Horstman, Luke [Sandia National Laboratories

2017-06-03

This paper presents a study of alternative heliostat standby aiming strategies and their impact on avian flux hazards and operational performance of a concentrating solar power plant. A mathematical model was developed that predicts the bird-feather temperature as a function of solar irradiance, thermal emittance, convection, and thermal properties of the feather. The irradiance distribution in the airspace above the Ivanpah Unit 2 heliostat field was simulated using a ray-trace model for two different times of the day, four days of the year, and nine different standby aiming strategies. The impact of the alternative aiming strategies on operational performance was assessed by comparing the heliostat slew times from standby position to the receiver for the different aiming strategies. Increased slew times increased a proxy start-up time that reduced the simulated annual energy production. Results showed that spreading the radial aim points around the receiver to a distance of ~150 m or greater reduced the hazardous exposure times that the feather temperature exceeded the hazard metric of 160 degrees C. The hazardous exposure times were reduced by ~23% and 90% at a radial spread of aim points extending to 150 m and 250 m, respectively, but the simulated annual energy production decreased as a result of increased slew times. Single point-focus aiming strategies were also evaluated, but these strategies increased the exposure hazard relative to other aiming strategies.

Evaluation of registration strategies for multi-modality images of rat brain slices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Palm, Christoph; Vieten, Andrea; Salber, Dagmar; Pietrzyk, Uwe

2009-01-01

In neuroscience, small-animal studies frequently involve dealing with series of images from multiple modalities such as histology and autoradiography. The consistent and bias-free restacking of multi-modality image series is obligatory as a starting point for subsequent non-rigid registration procedures and for quantitative comparisons with positron emission tomography (PET) and other in vivo data. Up to now, consistency between 2D slices without cross validation using an inherent 3D modality is frequently presumed to be close to the true morphology due to the smooth appearance of the contours of anatomical structures. However, in multi-modality stacks consistency is difficult to assess. In this work, consistency is defined in terms of smoothness of neighboring slices within a single modality and between different modalities. Registration bias denotes the distortion of the registered stack in comparison to the true 3D morphology and shape. Based on these metrics, different restacking strategies of multi-modality rat brain slices are experimentally evaluated. Experiments based on MRI-simulated and real dual-tracer autoradiograms reveal a clear bias of the restacked volume despite quantitatively high consistency and qualitatively smooth brain structures. However, different registration strategies yield different inter-consistency metrics. If no genuine 3D modality is available, the use of the so-called SOP (slice-order preferred) or MOSOP (modality-and-slice-order preferred) strategy is recommended.

[Real-time detection of quality of Chinese materia medica: strategy of NIR model evaluation].

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Zhi-sheng; Shi, Xin-yuan; Xu, Bing; Dai, Xing-xing; Qiao, Yan-jiang

2015-07-01

The definition of critical quality attributes of Chinese materia medica ( CMM) was put forward based on the top-level design concept. Nowadays, coupled with the development of rapid analytical science, rapid assessment of critical quality attributes of CMM was firstly carried out, which was the secondary discipline branch of CMM. Taking near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy as an example, which is a rapid analytical technology in pharmaceutical process over the past decade, systematic review is the chemometric parameters in NIR model evaluation. According to the characteristics of complexity of CMM and trace components analysis, a multi-source information fusion strategy of NIR model was developed for assessment of critical quality attributes of CMM. The strategy has provided guideline for NIR reliable analysis in critical quality attributes of CMM.

Evaluating system reliability and targeted hardening strategies of power distribution systems subjected to hurricanes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Salman, Abdullahi M.; Li, Yue; Stewart, Mark G.

2015-01-01

Over the years, power distribution systems have been vulnerable to extensive damage from hurricanes which can cause power outage resulting in millions of dollars of economic losses and restoration costs. Most of the outage is as a result of failure of distribution support structures. Over the years, various methods of strengthening distribution systems have been proposed and studied. Some of these methods, such as undergrounding of the system, have been shown to be unjustified from an economic point of view. A potential cost-effective strategy is targeted hardening of the system. This, however, requires a method of determining critical parts of a system that when strengthened, will have greater impact on reliability. This paper presents a framework for studying the effectiveness of targeted hardening strategies on power distribution systems subjected to hurricanes. The framework includes a methodology for evaluating system reliability that relates failure of poles and power delivery, determination of critical parts of a system, hurricane hazard analysis, and consideration of decay of distribution poles. The framework also incorporates cost analysis that considers economic losses due to power outage. A notional power distribution system is used to demonstrate the framework by evaluating and comparing the effectiveness of three hardening measures. - Highlight: • Risk assessment of power distribution systems subjected to hurricanes is carried out. • Framework for studying effectiveness of targeted hardening strategies is presented. • A system reliability method is proposed. • Targeted hardening is cost effective for existing systems. • Economic losses due to power outage should be considered for cost analysis.

Explaining the effects of two different strategies for promoting hand hygiene in hospital nurses: a process evaluation alongside a cluster randomised controlled trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Huis, Anita; Holleman, Gerda; van Achterberg, Theo; Grol, Richard; Schoonhoven, Lisette; Hulscher, Marlies

2013-04-08

There is only limited understanding of why hand hygiene improvement strategies are successful or fail. It is therefore important to look inside the 'black box' of such strategies, to ascertain which components of a strategy work well or less well. This study examined which components of two hand hygiene improvement strategies were associated with increased nurses' hand hygiene compliance. A process evaluation of a cluster randomised controlled trial was conducted in which part of the nursing wards of three hospitals in the Netherlands received a state-of-the-art strategy, including education, reminders, feedback, and optimising materials and facilities; another part received a team and leaders-directed strategy that included all elements of the state-of-the-art strategy, supplemented with activities aimed at the social and enhancing leadership. This process evaluation used four sets of measures: effects on nurses' hand hygiene compliance, adherence to the improvement strategies, contextual factors, and nurses' experiences with strategy components. Analyses of variance and multiple regression analyses were used to explore changes in nurses' hand hygiene compliance and thereby better understand trial effects. Both strategies were performed with good adherence to protocol. Two contextual factors were associated with changes in hand hygiene compliance: a hospital effect in long term (p feedback about their hand hygiene performance (p manager holds team members accountable for hand hygiene performance p < 0.01) correlated positively with changes in nurses' hand hygiene compliance. This study illustrates the use of a process evaluation to uncover mechanisms underlying change in hand hygiene improvement strategies. Our study results demonstrate the added value of specific aspects of social influence and leadership in hand hygiene improvement strategies, thus offering an interpretation of the trial effects. The study is registered in ClinicalTrials.gov, dossier number: NCT

Females' sampling strategy to comparatively evaluate prospective mates in the peacock blenny Salaria pavo

Science.gov (United States)

Locatello, Lisa; Rasotto, Maria B.

2017-08-01

Emerging evidence suggests the occurrence of comparative decision-making processes in mate choice, questioning the traditional idea of female choice based on rules of absolute preference. In such a scenario, females are expected to use a typical best-of- n sampling strategy, being able to recall previous sampled males based on memory of their quality and location. Accordingly, the quality of preferred mate is expected to be unrelated to both the number and the sequence of female visits. We found support for these predictions in the peacock blenny, Salaria pavo, a fish where females have the opportunity to evaluate the attractiveness of many males in a short time period and in a restricted spatial range. Indeed, even considering the variability in preference among females, most of them returned to previous sampled males for further evaluations; thus, the preferred male did not represent the last one in the sequence of visited males. Moreover, there was no relationship between the attractiveness of the preferred male and the number of further visits assigned to the other males. Our results suggest the occurrence of a best-of- n mate sampling strategy in the peacock blenny.

Towards a Generic Framework for the Performance Evaluation of Manufacturing Strategy: An Innovative Approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tigist Fetene Adane

2018-03-01

Full Text Available To be competitive in a manufacturing environment by providing optimal performance in terms of cost-effectiveness and swiftness of system changes, there is a need for flexible production systems based on a well-defined strategy. Companies are steadily looking for methodology to evaluate, improve and update the performance of manufacturing systems for processing operations. Implementation of an adequate strategy for these systems’ flexibility requires a deep understanding of the intricate interactions between the machining process parameters and the manufacturing system’s operational parameters. This paper proposes a framework/generic model for one of the most common metal cutting operations—the boring process of an engine block machining system. A system dynamics modelling approach is presented for modelling the structure of machining system parameters of the boring process, key performance parameters and their intrinsic relationships. The model is based on a case study performed in a company manufacturing engine blocks for heavy vehicles. The approach could allow for performance evaluation of an engine block manufacturing system condition. The presented model enables a basis for other similar processes and industries producing discrete parts.

The Use of Source-Related Strategies in Evaluating Multiple Psychology Texts: A Student-Scientist Comparison

Science.gov (United States)

von der Mühlen, Sarah; Richter, Tobias; Schmid, Sebastian; Schmidt, Elisabeth Marie; Berthold, Kirsten

2016-01-01

Multiple text comprehension can greatly benefit from paying attention to sources and from using this information for evaluating text information. Previous research based on texts from the domain of history suggests that source-related strategies are acquired as part of the discipline expertise as opposed to the spontaneous use of these strategies…

Evaluating Community Readiness to Implement Environmental and Policy-Based Alcohol Abuse Prevention Strategies in Wisconsin

Science.gov (United States)

Paltzer, Jason; Black, Penny; Moberg, D. Paul

2013-01-01

Background: Matching evidence-based alcohol prevention strat- egies with a community's readiness to support those strategies is the basis for the Tri-Ethnic Community Readiness Model (CRM). The purpose of this evaluation was to assess the association of a community's readiness to address alcohol abuse in their community with the implementation of…

Psychometric Evaluation of the Spiritual Coping Strategies Scale Arabic Version for Saudi Nursing Students.

Science.gov (United States)

Cruz, Jonas Preposi; Alquwez, Nahed; Alqubeilat, Hikmet; Colet, Paolo C

2016-05-22

To evaluate the psychometric properties of the Spiritual Coping Strategies scale Arabic version (SCS-A) in a sample of nursing students in Saudi Arabia. This study had a cross-sectional design with a convenience sample of 100 nursing students in Saudi Arabia. Using the SCS-A and the Muslim Religiosity Scale for data collection, data were analyzed to establish the reliability and validity of the SCS-A. Good internal consistency reliability (Cronbach's α > .70) and stability reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient > .80) were observed. Two dominant factors were extracted from the scale items, the nonreligious coping strategies and religious coping strategies, which accounted for 35.5% and 32.7% of the variance, respectively. The religious coping subscale exhibited a strong positive correlation with the religious practices subscale of the Muslim Religious Involvement Scale (r = .45, p well as a weak positive correlation with the intrinsic religious beliefs subscale (r = .25, p Scale. The SCS-A exhibited an acceptable validity and reliability, supporting its sound psychometric properties with respect to the responses from Saudi nursing students. © The Author(s) 2016.

Quasi-Experiment Study on Effectiveness Evaluation of Health Communication Strategies

Science.gov (United States)

2016-01-01

This experimental study examined differences in doctor-patient relationships according to the health communication strategies during cases of medical malpractices occurred at primary medical institution. A total of 116 subjects aged in their 20s-50s was sampled. The first medical malpractice scenario chosen was the medical malpractice case most frequently registered at the Korean Medical Association Mutual Aid and the second scenario was associated with materials and devices as the cause of malpractice. Four types of crisis communication strategy messages were utilized, consisting of denial, denial + ingratiation, apology, and apology + ingratiation. Subjects were classified into four research groups by crisis communication strategy to measure levels of trust, control mutuality, commitment, and satisfaction, before and after the occurrence of medical malpractice and application of communication strategies. The findings of this study revealed that the apology strategy, compared with the denial strategy, showed a smaller difference before and after the application of communication strategies in all variables of trust (F = 8.080, F = 5.768), control mutuality (F = 8.824, F = 9.081), commitment (F = 9.815, F = 8.301), and satisfaction (F = 8.723, F = 5.638). Further, a significant interaction effect was shown between variables. The apology strategy, compared with the denial strategy, was effective in the improvement of doctor-patient relationships in both Scenarios I and II. For Scenario I, the apology strategy without ingratiation boosted commitment and satisfaction, but for Scenario II, utilizing the apology strategy with ingratiation boosted the effectiveness of trust and commitment. PMID:27365998

Quasi-Experiment Study on Effectiveness Evaluation of Health Communication Strategies.

Science.gov (United States)

Song, Dae Jong; Choi, Jae Wook; Kim, Kyunghee; Kim, Min Soo; Moon, Jiwon Monica

2016-07-01

This experimental study examined differences in doctor-patient relationships according to the health communication strategies during cases of medical malpractices occurred at primary medical institution. A total of 116 subjects aged in their 20s-50s was sampled. The first medical malpractice scenario chosen was the medical malpractice case most frequently registered at the Korean Medical Association Mutual Aid and the second scenario was associated with materials and devices as the cause of malpractice. Four types of crisis communication strategy messages were utilized, consisting of denial, denial + ingratiation, apology, and apology + ingratiation. Subjects were classified into four research groups by crisis communication strategy to measure levels of trust, control mutuality, commitment, and satisfaction, before and after the occurrence of medical malpractice and application of communication strategies. The findings of this study revealed that the apology strategy, compared with the denial strategy, showed a smaller difference before and after the application of communication strategies in all variables of trust (F = 8.080, F = 5.768), control mutuality (F = 8.824, F = 9.081), commitment (F = 9.815, F = 8.301), and satisfaction (F = 8.723, F = 5.638). Further, a significant interaction effect was shown between variables. The apology strategy, compared with the denial strategy, was effective in the improvement of doctor-patient relationships in both Scenarios I and II. For Scenario I, the apology strategy without ingratiation boosted commitment and satisfaction, but for Scenario II, utilizing the apology strategy with ingratiation boosted the effectiveness of trust and commitment.

Evaluating Strategies for Achieving Global Collective Action on Transnational Health Threats and Social Inequalities

OpenAIRE

Hoffman, Steven Justin

2015-01-01

This dissertation presents three studies that evaluate different strategies for addressing transnational health threats and social inequalities that depend upon or would benefit from global collective action. Each draws upon different academic disciplines, methods and epistemological traditions. Chapter 1 assesses the role of international law in addressing global health challenges, specifically examining when, how and why global health treaties may be helpful. Evidence from 90 quantitati...

Prediction of performance and evaluation of flexible pavement rehabilitation strategies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kang-Won Wayne Lee

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Five test sections with different additives and strategies were established to rehabilitate a State-maintained highway more effectively in Rhode Island (RI: control, calcium chloride, asphalt emulsion, Portland cement and geogrid. Resilient moduli of subgrade soils and subbase materials before and after full depth rehabilitation were employed as input parameters to predict the performance of pavement structures using AASHTOWare Pavement ME Design (Pavement ME software in terms of rutting, cracking and roughness. It was attempted to use Level 1 input (which includes traffic full spectrum data, climate data and structural layer properties for Pavement ME. Traffic data was obtained from a Weigh-in-Motion (WIM instrument and Providence station was used for collecting climatic data. Volumetric properties, dynamic modulus and creep compliance were used as input parameters for 19 mm (0.75 in. warm mix asphalt (WMA base and 12.5 mm (0.5 in. WMA surface layer. The results indicated that all test sections observed AC top-down (longitudinal cracking except Portland cement section which passed for all criteria. The order in terms of performance (best to worst for all test sections by Pavement ME was Portland cement, calcium chloride, control, geogrid, and asphalt emulsion. It was also observed that all test sections passed for both bottom up and top down fatigue cracking by increasing thickness of either of the two top asphalt layers. Test sections with five different base/subbase materials were evaluated in last two years through visual condition survey and measurements of deflection and roughness to confirm the prediction, but there was no serious distress and roughness. Thus these experiments allowed selecting the best rehabilitation/reconstruction techniques for the particular and/or similar highway, and a framework was formulated to select an optimal technique and/or strategy for future rehabilitation/reconstruction projects. Finally, guidelines for

Environment and innovation. An evaluation of EU strategies and policies; Umwelt und Innovation. Eine Evaluation von EU-Strategien und Politiken

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hertin, Julia; Jacob, Klaus; Kahlenborn, Walter

2008-03-15

This study outlines the methodology and results of the research project: ''Umwelt, Innovation und Beschaeftigung in einem europaeischen Kontext: Europaeische Strategien als ein Motor fuer oekeffiziente Technologien und Wettbewerbsfaehigkeit'', funded by the BMU and UBA and carried out jointly by the Forschungsstelle fuer Umweltpolitik of Freie Universitaet Berlin and Adelphi Consult. The project was carried out with the intention to evaluate inhowfar current EU policies follow and implement goals that can be classified as ''ecological industrial policy''. In the definition of the BMU, this concept means a political strategy which enhances eco-efficient innovations beyond the traditional approaches of environmental and R + D policy. A strategy of this type is to influence the innovation behaviour and also influence the marketing conditions for generic technologies. As the strategy intends to effect both a reduction of the ecological burden and an enhancement of the economic and competitive standing, it can recur to a two-fold foundation. The current investigation attempted to identify political measures at EU level that are suited for enhancing fast development and propagation of eco-efficient technologies. (orig.)

Communicating Grammatically: Evaluating a Learner Strategy Website for Spanish Grammar

Science.gov (United States)

Cohen, Andrew D.; Pinilla-Herrera, Angela; Thompson, Jonathan R.; Witzig, Lance E.

2011-01-01

After a brief introduction to language learner strategies and grammar strategies as a subcategory, it is pointed out that research on the use of grammar strategies by learners of a second language (L2) has been limited. The article then describes the construction of a website with strategies for learning and performing Spanish grammar, with a…

Evaluating the Skills Strategy through a Graduate Certificate in Management: An Experiential Learning Theory Approach

Science.gov (United States)

Butler, Michael J. R.; Gheorghiu, Lidia

2010-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to evaluate how a UK business school is addressing the Government's skills strategy through its Graduate Certificate in Management, and to identify good practice and development needs and to clarify how the Graduate Certificate is adapting to the needs of Generation X and Millennial students. The paper also…

Economic evaluation of HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis strategies: protocol for a methodological systematic review and quantitative synthesis.

Science.gov (United States)

Thavorn, Kednapa; Kugathasan, Howsikan; Tan, Darrell H S; Moqueet, Nasheed; Baral, Stefan D; Skidmore, Becky; MacFadden, Derek; Simkin, Anna; Mishra, Sharmistha

2018-03-15

Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) with antiretrovirals is an efficacious and effective intervention to decrease the risk of HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) acquisition. Yet drug and delivery costs prohibit access in many jurisdictions. In the absence of guidelines for the synthesis of economic evaluations, we developed a protocol for a systematic review of economic evaluation studies for PrEP by drawing on best practices in systematic reviews and the conduct and reporting of economic evaluations. We aim to estimate the incremental cost per health outcome of PrEP compared with placebo, no PrEP, or other HIV prevention strategies; assess the methodological variability in, and quality of, economic evaluations of PrEP; estimate the incremental cost per health outcome of different PrEP implementation strategies; and quantify the potential sources of heterogeneity in outcomes. We will systematically search electronic databases (MEDLINE, Embase) and the gray literature. We will include economic evaluation studies that assess both costs and health outcomes of PrEP in HIV-uninfected individuals, without restricting language or year of publication. Two reviewers will independently screen studies using predefined inclusion criteria, extract data, and assess methodological quality using the Philips checklist, Second Panel on the Cost-effectiveness of Health and Medicines, and the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research recommendations. Outcomes of interest include incremental costs and outcomes in natural units or utilities, cost-effectiveness ratios, and net monetary benefit. We will perform descriptive and quantitative syntheses using sensitivity analyses of outcomes by population subgroups, HIV epidemic settings, study designs, baseline intervention contexts, key parameter inputs and assumptions, type of outcomes, economic perspectives, and willingness to pay values. Findings will guide future economic evaluation of PrEP strategies in terms of

Gene therapy strategy to reduced bone marrow aplasia: evaluation in cynomolgus macaque exposed to a gamma total body irradiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Becard, N.

2003-01-01

The aim of this work was to assess whether direct intra-marrow injection of an adeno-viral vector expressing human IL-1α gene stimulates hematopoiesis in healthy non-irradiated and gamma irradiated cynomolgus macaques. In the first hand, we have evaluated the feasibility of this gene therapy strategy in two healthy non-irradiated macaques. In this work, we have observed an increase of neutrophil, monocyte and platelets in the two animals treated with the therapeutic construct. This effect was associated with no abnormal clinical side effect. On the other hand, we have evaluated this strategy in non-human primate exposed to a sublethal gamma irradiation. Two of three animals treated by the therapeutic construct reduced significantly the neutropenia, thrombocytopenia and anemia radio-induced. In conclusion, this gene therapy strategy gave a similar clinical benefit comparatively to systemic administration of huIL-1α but without severe side effect. (author) [fr

A normative model for assessing competitive strategy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ungerer, Gerard David

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The hyper-competitive nature of e-business has raised the need for a generic way to appraise the merit of a developed business strategy. Although progress has been made in the domain of strategy evaluation, the established literature differs over the ‘tests’ that a strategy must pass to be considered well-constructed. This paper therefore investigates the existing strategy-evaluation literature to propose a more integrated and comprehensive normative strategic assessment that can be used to evaluate and refine a business’ s competitive strategy , adding to its robustness and survivability.

Evaluating the implementation of "managing the risk of suicide: a suicide prevention strategy for the ACT 2009-2014".

Science.gov (United States)

Sheehan, Johann; Griffiths, Kathleen; Rickwood, Debra; Carron-Arthur, Bradley

2015-01-01

Over the past two decades, governments have invested significantly in policies and strategies to prevent the tragic loss of life to suicide. However, there has been little focus on evaluating the implementation of such policies. This paper reports on the evaluation of the implementation of "Managing the Risk of Suicide: A Suicide Prevention Strategy for the ACT 2009-2014," the Australian Capital Territory's (ACT) suicide prevention strategy. We sought to answer two questions: (1) Could agencies provide data reporting on their progress in implementing the activities for which they were responsible?; and (2) Could a judgment about implementation progress be made and, if so, to what extent was the activity implemented? Individually tailored electronic surveys were sent to 18 ACT agencies annually over 4 years to measure their progress in implementing activities for which they had responsibility. By year four, full data were provided for 64% of activities, maximal partial data for 9%, and minimal partial data for 27%. Forty-two per cent of activities were fully implemented, 20% were partially implemented, and 38% were not implemented or could not be measured. It is possible to measure implementation of suicide prevention strategies, but appropriate processes and dedicated resources must be in place at the outset.

Modelling the transport system in China and evaluating the current strategies towards the sustainable transport development

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Liu, W.; Lund, H.; Mathiesen, B.V.

2013-01-01

in China. With this purpose in mind, a Chinese transport model has been created and three current transport strategies which are high speed railway (HSR), urban rail transit (URT) and electric vehicle (EV) were evaluated together with a reference transport system in 2020. As conservative results, 13...

Evaluation of a pooled strategy for high-throughput sequencing of cosmid clones from metagenomic libraries.

Science.gov (United States)

Lam, Kathy N; Hall, Michael W; Engel, Katja; Vey, Gregory; Cheng, Jiujun; Neufeld, Josh D; Charles, Trevor C

2014-01-01

High-throughput sequencing methods have been instrumental in the growing field of metagenomics, with technological improvements enabling greater throughput at decreased costs. Nonetheless, the economy of high-throughput sequencing cannot be fully leveraged in the subdiscipline of functional metagenomics. In this area of research, environmental DNA is typically cloned to generate large-insert libraries from which individual clones are isolated, based on specific activities of interest. Sequence data are required for complete characterization of such clones, but the sequencing of a large set of clones requires individual barcode-based sample preparation; this can become costly, as the cost of clone barcoding scales linearly with the number of clones processed, and thus sequencing a large number of metagenomic clones often remains cost-prohibitive. We investigated a hybrid Sanger/Illumina pooled sequencing strategy that omits barcoding altogether, and we evaluated this strategy by comparing the pooled sequencing results to reference sequence data obtained from traditional barcode-based sequencing of the same set of clones. Using identity and coverage metrics in our evaluation, we show that pooled sequencing can generate high-quality sequence data, without producing problematic chimeras. Though caveats of a pooled strategy exist and further optimization of the method is required to improve recovery of complete clone sequences and to avoid circumstances that generate unrecoverable clone sequences, our results demonstrate that pooled sequencing represents an effective and low-cost alternative for sequencing large sets of metagenomic clones.

Evaluation of test-strategies for estimating probability of low prevalence of paratuberculosis in Danish dairy herds

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sergeant, E.S.G.; Nielsen, Søren S.; Toft, Nils

2008-01-01

of this study was to develop a method to estimate the probability of low within-herd prevalence of paratuberculosis for Danish dairy herds. A stochastic simulation model was developed using the R(R) programming environment. Features of this model included: use of age-specific estimates of test......-sensitivity and specificity; use of a distribution of observed values (rather than a fixed, low value) for design prevalence; and estimates of the probability of low prevalence (Pr-Low) based on a specific number of test-positive animals, rather than for a result less than or equal to a specified cut-point number of reactors....... Using this model, five herd-testing strategies were evaluated: (1) milk-ELISA on all lactating cows; (2) milk-ELISA on lactating cows 4 years old; (4) faecal culture on all lactating cows; and (5) milk-ELISA plus faecal culture in series on all lactating cows. The five testing strategies were evaluated...

Photometric Redshifts with the LSST: Evaluating Survey Observing Strategies

Science.gov (United States)

Graham, Melissa L.; Connolly, Andrew J.; Ivezić, Željko; Schmidt, Samuel J.; Jones, R. Lynne; Jurić, Mario; Daniel, Scott F.; Yoachim, Peter

2018-01-01

In this paper we present and characterize a nearest-neighbors color-matching photometric redshift estimator that features a direct relationship between the precision and accuracy of the input magnitudes and the output photometric redshifts. This aspect makes our estimator an ideal tool for evaluating the impact of changes to LSST survey parameters that affect the measurement errors of the photometry, which is the main motivation of our work (i.e., it is not intended to provide the “best” photometric redshifts for LSST data). We show how the photometric redshifts will improve with time over the 10 year LSST survey and confirm that the nominal distribution of visits per filter provides the most accurate photo-z results. The LSST survey strategy naturally produces observations over a range of airmass, which offers the opportunity of using an SED- and z-dependent atmospheric affect on the observed photometry as a color-independent redshift indicator. We show that measuring this airmass effect and including it as a prior has the potential to improve the photometric redshifts and can ameliorate extreme outliers, but that it will only be adequately measured for the brightest galaxies, which limits its overall impact on LSST photometric redshifts. We furthermore demonstrate how this airmass effect can induce a bias in the photo-z results, and caution against survey strategies that prioritize high-airmass observations for the purpose of improving this prior. Ultimately, we intend for this work to serve as a guide for the expectations and preparations of the LSST science community with regard to the minimum quality of photo-z as the survey progresses.

Mid-Term Assessment of the EU Drugs Strategy 2013-2020 and Final Evaluation of the Action Plan on Drugs 2013-2016: Final report.

Science.gov (United States)

Emilie, Balbirnie; Matthew, Davies; Emma, Disley; Cristina Gonzalez, Monsalve; Stephen, Hartka; Stijn, Hoorens; Kristy, Kruithof; Martin, Sacher; Jirka, Taylor

2018-01-01

The aim of the EU Drugs Strategy 2013-2020 is to contribute to a reduction in drug demand and drug supply within the EU. The Strategy has so far been implemented by an Action Plan covering the period 2013-2016. This article sets out the findings of an evaluation that assesses the degree of implementation of the Strategy and the Action Plan in terms of outputs and, where possible, impacts. It looks at the extent to which the objectives of the Strategy have been achieved. The evaluation aims to provide evidence to support the European Commission's decision about whether to propose a new Action Plan for the period 2017-2020 and, if so, what changes would be needed compared to the current plan. Through applying a mixed-methods approach, the evaluation examined the effectiveness, efficiency, relevance and coherence of the actions undertaken on the basis of the EU Drugs Strategy and the Action Plan, as well as their EU added value. The evaluation makes 20 recommendations, addressed to the European Commission, Member States, the European Council and other stakeholders. The key recommendation for the Commission is that a new Action Plan should be implemented for the period 2017-2020. This should be an updated version of the current Action Plan, rather than taking a new approach or introducing more new actions.

Assessment of Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategies in Oncology: Summary of the Oncology Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategies Workshop

Science.gov (United States)

Frame, James N.; Jacobson, Joseph O.; Vogel, Wendy H.; Griffith, Niesha; Wariabharaj, Darshan; Garg, Rekha; Zon, Robin; Stephens, Cyntha L.; Bialecki, Alison M.; Bruinooge, Suanna S.; Allen, Steven L.

2013-01-01

To address oncology community stakeholder concerns regarding implementation of the Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategies (REMS) program, ASCO sponsored a workshop to gather REMS experiences from representatives of professional societies, patient organizations, pharmaceutical companies, and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Stakeholder presentations and topical panel discussions addressed REMS program development, implementation processes, and practice experiences, as well as oncology drug safety processes. A draft REMS decision tool prepared by the ASCO REMS Steering Committee was presented for group discussion with facilitated, goal-oriented feedback. The workshop identified several unintended consequences resulting from current oncology REMS: (1) the release of personal health information to drug sponsors as a condition for gaining access to a needed drug; (2) risk information that is not tailored—and therefore not accessible—to all literacy levels; (3) exclusive focus on drug risk, thereby affecting patient-provider treatment discussion; (4) REMS elements that do not consider existing, widely practiced oncology safety standards, professional training, and experience; and (5) administrative burdens that divert the health care team from direct patient care activities and, in some cases, could limit patient access to important therapies. Increased provider and professional society participation should form the basis of ongoing and future REMS standardization discussions with the FDA to work toward overall improvement of risk communication. PMID:23814522

Financial evaluation of different vaccination strategies for controlling the bluetongue virus serotype 8 epidemic in The Netherlands in 2008.

Science.gov (United States)

Velthuis, Annet G J; Mourits, Monique C M; Saatkamp, Helmut W; de Koeijer, Aline A; Elbers, Armin R W

2011-05-04

Bluetongue (BT) is a vector-borne disease of ruminants caused by bluetongue virus that is transmitted by biting midges (Culicoides spp.). In 2006, the introduction of BTV serotype 8 (BTV-8) caused a severe epidemic in Western and Central Europe. The principal effective veterinary measure in response to BT was believed to be vaccination accompanied by other measures such as movement restrictions and surveillance. As the number of vaccine doses available at the start of the vaccination campaign was rather uncertain, the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality and the Dutch agricultural industry wanted to evaluate several different vaccination strategies. This study aimed to rank eight vaccination strategies based on their efficiency (i.e. net costs in relation to prevented losses or benefits) for controlling the bluetongue virus serotype 8 epidemic in 2008. An economic model was developed that included the Dutch professional cattle, sheep and goat sectors together with the hobby farms. Strategies were evaluated based on the least cost - highest benefit frontier, the benefit-cost ratio and the total net returns. Strategy F, where all adult sheep at professional farms in The Netherlands would be vaccinated was very efficient at lowest costs, whereas strategy D, where additional to all adult sheep at professional farms also all adult cattle in the four Northern provinces would be vaccinated, was also very efficient but at a little higher costs. Strategy C, where all adult sheep and cattle at professional farms in the whole of The Netherlands would be vaccinated was also efficient but again at higher costs. This study demonstrates that a financial analysis differentiates between vaccination strategies and indicates important decision rules based on efficiency.

Unsupervised Performance Evaluation Strategy for Bridge Superstructure Based on Fuzzy Clustering and Field Data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yubo Jiao

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Performance evaluation of a bridge is critical for determining the optimal maintenance strategy. An unsupervised bridge superstructure state assessment method is proposed in this paper based on fuzzy clustering and bridge field measured data. Firstly, the evaluation index system of bridge is constructed. Secondly, a certain number of bridge health monitoring data are selected as clustering samples to obtain the fuzzy similarity matrix and fuzzy equivalent matrix. Finally, different thresholds are selected to form dynamic clustering maps and determine the best classification based on statistic analysis. The clustering result is regarded as a sample base, and the bridge state can be evaluated by calculating the fuzzy nearness between the unknown bridge state data and the sample base. Nanping Bridge in Jilin Province is selected as the engineering project to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method.

National evaluation of strategies to reduce safety violations for working from heights in construction companies: results from a randomized controlled trial

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van der Molen, Henk F.; den Herder, Aalt; Warning, Jan; Frings-Dresen, Monique H. W.

2016-01-01

The objective of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of a face-to-face strategy and a direct mail strategy on safety violations while working from heights among construction companies compared to a control condition. Construction companies with workers at risk for fall injuries were eligible

Performance evaluation of a full-scale advanced phase isolation ditch process by using real-time control strategies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Hyosoo; Kim, Yejin; Kim, Minsoo; Piao, Wenhua; Kim, Changwon; Gee, Jeasung

2014-01-01

This paper proposes real-time control strategies that can be applied in a full-scale advanced phase isolation ditch (APID) process. Real-time operation mode control (OMC) and aeration section control (ASC) strategies were developed to cope more stably with fluctuations in the influent loading and to increase the nitrification and denitrification reactions within the entire volume. The real-time OMC and ASC strategies were evaluated using mathematical models. When the NH 4 -N in the reactor was maintained at a high level, appropriate control actions, such as continuing the aeration state, stopping the influent inflow and increasing the aeration section, were applied in the APID process. In contrast, when the NO X -N in the reactor was maintained at a high level, the non-aeration state, influent inflow, and decreased aeration section were continued. It was concluded that stable operation in the APID process could be achieved by applying real-time OMC and ASC strategies developed in this study

Performance evaluation of a full-scale advanced phase isolation ditch process by using real-time control strategies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Hyosoo; Kim, Yejin; Kim, Minsoo; Piao, Wenhua; Kim, Changwon [Pusan National University, Busan (Korea, Republic of); Gee, Jeasung [Taiwha Industrial Co. Ltd., Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

2014-04-15

This paper proposes real-time control strategies that can be applied in a full-scale advanced phase isolation ditch (APID) process. Real-time operation mode control (OMC) and aeration section control (ASC) strategies were developed to cope more stably with fluctuations in the influent loading and to increase the nitrification and denitrification reactions within the entire volume. The real-time OMC and ASC strategies were evaluated using mathematical models. When the NH{sub 4}-N in the reactor was maintained at a high level, appropriate control actions, such as continuing the aeration state, stopping the influent inflow and increasing the aeration section, were applied in the APID process. In contrast, when the NO{sub X}-N in the reactor was maintained at a high level, the non-aeration state, influent inflow, and decreased aeration section were continued. It was concluded that stable operation in the APID process could be achieved by applying real-time OMC and ASC strategies developed in this study.

Evaluation of the Parent-Implemented Communication Strategies (PiCS) Project Using the Multiattribute Utility (MAU) Approach

Science.gov (United States)

Stoner, Julia B.; Meadan, Hedda; Angell, Maureen E.; Daczewitz, Marcus

2012-01-01

We conducted a multiattribute utility (MAU) evaluation to assess the Parent-Implemented Communication Strategies (PiCS) project which was funded by the Institute of Education Sciences (IES). In the PiCS project parents of young children with developmental disabilities are trained and coached in their homes on naturalistic and visual teaching…

An Implementation Strategy to Improve the Guideline Adherence of Insurance Physicians: A Process Evaluation Alongside an Experiment in a Controlled Setting

Science.gov (United States)

Zwerver, Feico; Bonefaas-Groenewoud, Karin; Schellart, Antonius J. M.; Anema, Johannes R.; van der Beek, Allard J.

2013-01-01

Background: We developed an implementation strategy for the insurance medicine guidelines for depression, which we implemented via a post-graduate course for insurance physicians (IPs). In this study we evaluate the physicians' experiences of the implementation strategy by measuring the following aspects: recruitment and reach, dose delivered and…

Contemporary approaches to congestion pricing : lessons learned from the national evaluation of congestion pricing strategies at six sites.

Science.gov (United States)

2015-08-01

This document represents the final report of the national evaluation of congestion reduction strategies at six sites that received federal funding under the Urban Partnership Agreement (UPA) and Congestion Reduction Demonstration (CRD) programs. The ...

Evaluation of Patient and Family Engagement Strategies to Improve Medication Safety.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Julia M; Suarez-Cuervo, Catalina; Berger, Zackary; Lee, Joy; Gayleard, Jessica; Rosenberg, Carol; Nagy, Natalia; Weeks, Kristina; Dy, Sydney

2018-04-01

Patient and family engagement (PFE) is critical for patient safety. We systematically reviewed types of PFE strategies implemented and their impact on medication safety. We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, reference lists and websites to August 2016. Two investigators independently reviewed all abstracts and articles, and articles were additionally reviewed by two senior investigators for selection. One investigator abstracted data and two investigators reviewed the data for accuracy. Study quality was determined by consensus. Investigators developed a framework for defining the level of patient engagement: informing patients about medications (Level 1), informing about engagement with health care providers (Level 2), empowering patients with communication tools and skills (Level 3), partnering with patients in their care (Level 4), and integrating patients as full care team members (Level 5). We included 19 studies that mostly targeted older adults taking multiple medications. The median level of engagement was 2, ranging from 2-4. We identified no level 5 studies. Key themes for patient engagement strategies impacting medication safety were patient education and medication reconciliation, with a subtheme of patient portals. Most studies (84%) reported implementation outcomes. The most commonly reported medication safety outcomes were medication errors, including near misses and discrepancies (47%), and medication safety knowledge (37%). Most studies (63%) were of medium to low quality, and risk of bias was generally moderate. Among the 11 studies with control groups, 55% (n = 6) reported statistically significant improvement on at least one medication safety outcome. Further synthesis of medication safety measures was limited due to intervention and outcome heterogeneity. Key strategies for engaging patients in medication safety are education and medication reconciliation. Patient engagement levels were generally low, as defined by a novel framework for determining

Financial evaluation of different vaccination strategies for controlling the bluetongue virus serotype 8 epidemic in The Netherlands in 2008.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Annet G J Velthuis

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Bluetongue (BT is a vector-borne disease of ruminants caused by bluetongue virus that is transmitted by biting midges (Culicoides spp.. In 2006, the introduction of BTV serotype 8 (BTV-8 caused a severe epidemic in Western and Central Europe. The principal effective veterinary measure in response to BT was believed to be vaccination accompanied by other measures such as movement restrictions and surveillance. As the number of vaccine doses available at the start of the vaccination campaign was rather uncertain, the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality and the Dutch agricultural industry wanted to evaluate several different vaccination strategies. This study aimed to rank eight vaccination strategies based on their efficiency (i.e. net costs in relation to prevented losses or benefits for controlling the bluetongue virus serotype 8 epidemic in 2008. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: An economic model was developed that included the Dutch professional cattle, sheep and goat sectors together with the hobby farms. Strategies were evaluated based on the least cost - highest benefit frontier, the benefit-cost ratio and the total net returns. Strategy F, where all adult sheep at professional farms in The Netherlands would be vaccinated was very efficient at lowest costs, whereas strategy D, where additional to all adult sheep at professional farms also all adult cattle in the four Northern provinces would be vaccinated, was also very efficient but at a little higher costs. Strategy C, where all adult sheep and cattle at professional farms in the whole of The Netherlands would be vaccinated was also efficient but again at higher costs. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: This study demonstrates that a financial analysis differentiates between vaccination strategies and indicates important decision rules based on efficiency.

Evaluation of targeted influenza vaccination strategies via population modeling.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

John Glasser

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Because they can generate comparable predictions, mathematical models are ideal tools for evaluating alternative drug or vaccine allocation strategies. To remain credible, however, results must be consistent. Authors of a recent assessment of possible influenza vaccination strategies conclude that older children, adolescents, and young adults are the optimal targets, no matter the objective, and argue for vaccinating them. Authors of two earlier studies concluded, respectively, that optimal targets depend on objectives and cautioned against changing policy. Which should we believe? METHODS AND FINDINGS: In matrices whose elements are contacts between persons by age, the main diagonal always predominates, reflecting contacts between contemporaries. Indirect effects (e.g., impacts of vaccinating one group on morbidity or mortality in others result from off-diagonal elements. Mixing matrices based on periods in proximity with others have greater sub- and super-diagonals, reflecting contacts between parents and children, and other off-diagonal elements (reflecting, e.g., age-independent contacts among co-workers, than those based on face-to-face conversations. To assess the impact of targeted vaccination, we used a time-usage study's mixing matrix and allowed vaccine efficacy to vary with age. And we derived mortality rates either by dividing observed deaths attributed to pneumonia and influenza by average annual cases from a demographically-realistic SEIRS model or by multiplying those rates by ratios of (versus adding to them differences between pandemic and pre-pandemic mortalities. CONCLUSIONS: In our simulations, vaccinating older children, adolescents, and young adults averts the most cases, but vaccinating either younger children and older adults or young adults averts the most deaths, depending on the age distribution of mortality. These results are consistent with those of the earlier studies.

Risk impact of two accident management strategies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dingman, S.; Camp, A.

1992-01-01

This report probabilistic Risk Assessment is used to evaluate two accident management strategies: intentionally depressurizing the reactor coolant system of a pressurized water reactor to prevent containment-pressurization during high pressure melt ejection, and flooding the containment of a boiling water reactor to prevent or delay vessel breach. Sensitivity studies indicated that intentional depressurization would not provide a significant risk reduction at Surry. A preliminary evaluation of the containment flooding strategy indicated that it might prove beneficial for some plants, but that further strategy development would be needed to fully evaluate the strategy-

Evaluating Simulation Methodologies to Determine Best Strategies to Maximize Student Learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Scherer, Yvonne K; Foltz-Ramos, Kelly; Fabry, Donna; Chao, Ying-Yu

2016-01-01

Limited evidence exists as to the most effective ways to provide simulation experiences to maximize student learning. This quasi-experimental study investigated 2 different strategies repeated versus 1 exposure and participation versus observation on student outcomes following exposure to a high-fidelity acute asthma exacerbation of asthma scenario. Immediate repeated exposure resulted in significantly higher scores on knowledge, student satisfaction and self-confidence, and clinical performance measures than a single exposure. Significant intergroup differences were found on participants' satisfaction and self-confidence as compared with observers. Implications for nurse educators include expanding the observer role when designing repeated exposure to simulations and integrating technical, cognitive, and behavioral outcomes as a way for faculty to evaluate students' clinical performance. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Evaluation of BWROG EPG level/power control strategy for Vermont Yankee

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chandola, V.; Robichaud, J.D.

1987-01-01

The current Boiling Water Reactor Owner's Group (BWROG) emergency procedure guidelines (EPGs) direct reactor operators to manually lower the reactor pressure vessel (RPV) water level to the top of active fuel (TAF) during an anticipated transient without scram (ATWS) event. Lowering the water level reduces the core inlet flow, thereby reducing core power. However, reducing water level is contrary to current operator training, which requires that normal RPV water level be maintained to assure core cooling. In addition, the indicated water level near TAF using cold calibrated level instrumentation may not be reliable, which could potentially result in uncovering the core. This paper evaluates the EPGs' level/power control strategy for the Vermont Yankee plant and proposes alternative to the BWROG guidelines as applied to ATWS response

Evaluating the enhancement and improvement of China's technology and financial services platform innovation strategy.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Ching-Sung; Hu, Kuang-Hua; Chen, Fu-Hsiang

2016-01-01

The development of high-tech industry has been prosperous around the world in past decades, while technology and finance have already become the most significant issues in the information era. While high-tech firms are a major force behind a country's economic development, it requires a lot of money for the development process, as well as the financing difficulties for its potential problems, thus, how to evaluate and establish appropriate technology and financial services platforms innovation strategy has become one of the most critical and difficult issues. Moreover, how the chosen intertwined financial environment can be optimized in order that high-tech firms financing problems can be decided has seldom been addressed. Thus, this research aims to establish a technology and financial services platform innovation strategy improvement model, as based on the hybrid MADM model, which addresses the main causal factors and amended priorities in order to strengthen ongoing planning. A DEMATEL technique, as based on Analytic Network Process, as well as modified VIKOR, will be proposed for selecting and re-configuring the aspired technology and financial services platform. An empirical study, as based on China's technology and financial services platform innovation strategy, will be provided for verifying the effectiveness of this proposed methodology. Based on expert interviews, technology and financial services platforms innovation strategy improvement should be made in the following order: credit guarantee platform ( C )_credit rating platform ( B )_investment and finance platform ( A ).

Evaluation Strategies in Financial Education: Evaluation with Imperfect Instruments

Science.gov (United States)

Robinson, Lauren; Dudensing, Rebekka; Granovsky, Nancy L.

2016-01-01

Program evaluation often suffers due to time constraints, imperfect instruments, incomplete data, and the need to report standardized metrics. This article about the evaluation process for the Wi$eUp financial education program showcases the difficulties inherent in evaluation and suggests best practices for assessing program effectiveness. We…

Key challenges in the combat of human trafficking : Evaluating the EU trafficking strategy and EU trafficking directive

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bosma, Alice; Rijken, Conny

2016-01-01

The problem of trafficking in human beings (THB) is still omnipresent in Europe, despite the numerous preventive and retributive actions taken. This article evaluates the two most important EU-instruments to combat trafficking: the EU Directive and the EU Strategy. Based on secondary analysis of

Strategy on biological evaluation for biodegradable/absorbable materials and medical devices.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Chenghu; Luo, Hongyu; Wan, Min; Hou, Li; Wang, Xin; Shi, Yanping

2018-01-01

During the last two decades, biodegradable/absorbable materials which have many benefits over conventional implants are being sought in clinical practices. However, to date, it still remains obscure for us to perform full physic-chemical characterization and biological risk assessment for these materials and related devices due to their complex design and coherent processing. In this review, based on the art of knowledge for biodegradable/absorbable materials and biological risk assessment, we demonstrated some promising strategies to establish and improve the current biological evaluation systems for these biodegradable/absorbable materials and related medical devices.

Helping hands: A cluster randomised trial to evaluate the effectiveness of two different strategies for promoting hand hygiene in hospital nurses

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hulscher Marlies

2011-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Hand hygiene prescriptions are the most important measure in the prevention of hospital-acquired infections. Yet, compliance rates are generally below 50% of all opportunities for hand hygiene. This study aims at evaluating the short- and long-term effects of two different strategies for promoting hand hygiene in hospital nurses. Methods/design This study is a cluster randomised controlled trial with inpatient wards as the unit of randomisation. Guidelines for hand hygiene will be implemented in this study. Two strategies will be used to improve the adherence to guidelines for hand hygiene. The state-of-the-art strategy is derived from the literature and includes education, reminders, feedback, and targeting adequate products and facilities. The extended strategy also contains activities aimed at influencing social influence in groups and enhancing leadership. The unique contribution of the extended strategy is built upon relevant behavioural science theories. The extended strategy includes all elements of the state-of-the-art strategy supplemented with gaining active commitment and initiative of ward management, modelling by informal leaders at the ward, and setting norms and targets within the team. Data will be collected at four points in time, with six-month intervals. An average of 3,000 opportunities for hand hygiene in approximately 900 nurses will be observed at each time point. Discussion Performing and evaluating an implementation strategy that also targets the social context of teams may considerably add to the general body of knowledge in this field. Results from our study will allow us to draw conclusions on the effects of different strategies for the implementation of hand hygiene guidelines, and based on these results we will be able to define a preferred implementation strategy for hospital based nursing. Trial registration The study is registered as a Clinical Trial in ClinicalTrials.gov, dossier number: NCT

Evaluation of three lidar scanning strategies for turbulence measurements

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Newman, Jennifer F.; Klein, Petra M.; Wharton, Sonia

2016-01-01

Several errors occur when a traditional Doppler beam swinging (DBS) or velocity-azimuth display (VAD) strategy is used to measure turbulence with a lidar. To mitigate some of these errors, a scanning strategy was recently developed which employs six beam positions to independently estimate the u,...

Students' Scientific Epistemic Beliefs, Online Evaluative Standards, and Online Searching Strategies for Science Information: The Moderating Role of Cognitive Load Experience

Science.gov (United States)

Hsieh, Ya-Hui; Tsai, Chin-Chung

2014-06-01

The purpose of this study is to examine the moderating role of cognitive load experience between students' scientific epistemic beliefs and information commitments, which refer to online evaluative standards and online searching strategies. A total of 344 science-related major students participated in this study. Three questionnaires were used to ascertain the students' scientific epistemic beliefs, information commitments, and cognitive load experience. Structural equation modeling was then used to analyze the moderating effect of cognitive load, with the results revealing its significant moderating effect. The relationships between sophisticated scientific epistemic beliefs and the advanced evaluative standards used by the students were significantly stronger for low than for high cognitive load students. Moreover, considering the searching strategies that the students used, the relationships between sophisticated scientific epistemic beliefs and advanced searching strategies were also stronger for low than for high cognitive load students. However, for the high cognitive load students, only one of the sophisticated scientific epistemic belief dimensions was found to positively associate with advanced evaluative standard dimensions.

Genesis nature of financial strategy

OpenAIRE

O.V. Pashchenko

2015-01-01

The article is devoted to the study of the origin and history of the interpretation of the genesis of «strategy», «financial strategy», its elements and composite types. Scientists studied different views on the concept of strategy. Several specific positions founders of different approaches to define the strategy of schools operating strategies involved in the formulation and implementation of the concept of «strategy». Evaluation of different schools of strategies that deepened understandin...

Implementation and evaluation of critical thinking strategies to enhance critical thinking skills in Middle Eastern nurses.

Science.gov (United States)

Simpson, Elaine; Courtney, Mary

2008-12-01

The purpose of this study was to develop, implement and evaluate critical thinking strategies to enhance critical thinking skills in Middle Eastern nurses. Critical thinking strategies such as questioning, debate, role play and small group activity were developed and used in a professional development programme, which was trialled on a sample of Middle Eastern nurses (n = 20), to promote critical thinking skills, encourage problem solving, development of clinical judgment making and care prioritization in order to improve patient care and outcomes. Classroom learning was transformed from memorization to interaction and active participation. The intervention programme was successful in developing critical thinking skills in both the nurse educators and student nurses in this programme. This programme successfully integrated critical thinking strategies into a Middle Eastern nursing curriculum. Recommendations are as follows: (1) utilize evidence-based practice and stem questions to encourage the formulation of critical thinking questions; (2) support the needs of nurse educators for them to effectively implement teaching strategies to foster critical thinking skills; and (3) adopt creative approaches to (i) transform students into interactive participants and (ii) open students' minds and stimulate higher-level thinking and problem-solving abilities.

[Guidance of FDA risk evaluation and mitigation strategy and enlightenment to drug risk management of post-marketing Chinese medicine].

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Yuanyuan; Xie, Yanming

2011-10-01

The FDA risk evaluation and mitigation strategy (REMS) aims to drugs or biological products known or potential serious risk management. Analysis with the example of the content of the Onsolis REMS named FOCOS. Our country can be reference for the analysis of relevant experience and establish a scientific evaluation mechanism, strengthen the drug risk consciousness, promote the rational drug use, organic combined with the before-marketing and post-marketing evaluation of traditional Chinese medicine, and promote the evaluation of risk management of the drug development and improvement.

Evaluation of 5-FU pharmacokinetics in cancer patients with DPD deficiency using a Bayesian limited sampling strategy

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Van Kuilenburg, A.; Hausler, P.; Schalhorn, A.; Tanck, M.; Proost, J.H.; Terborg, C.; Behnke, D.; Schwabe, W.; Jabschinsky, K.; Maring, J.G.

Aims: Dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase (DPD) is the initial enzyme in the catabolism of 5-fluorouracil (5FU) and DPD deficiency is an important pharmacogenetic syndrome. The main purpose of this study was to develop a limited sampling strategy to evaluate the pharmacokinetics of 5FU and to detect

A new framework for performance evaluation system using strategy map: A case study of Islamic Azad University of Semnan

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Afsaneh Mozaffari

2013-04-01

Full Text Available During the past few years, there have been extensive developments on Islamic Azad University, which has led on reduction of managerial flexibility. Therefore, these organizations concentrate on their strategic management via usage of the Balanced Model such as Balanced Score Card (BSC to consider different organizational perspectives and it is important to have good description of organizational strategies and goals. The strategy map is a primary factor to assess the performance in different organizational activities. In this paper, the performance evaluation system of Islamic Azad University of Semnan is designed by the utilization of strategy map as a prominent part of BSC.

Multi-criteria approval for evaluating landscape management strategies (Case study: Fruška Gora National Park

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lakićević Milena D.

2015-01-01

Full Text Available This paper deals with the problem of multi-criteria evaluation of four management strategies for Fruška Gora National Park. The criteria set was defined in ac­cordance with the IUCN guidelines for management of national parks. Four strategies were evaluated by testing preference intensities for each alternative with the respect to each cri­terion. Alternatives with preference above the approval threshold were approved, and a multi-criteria approval matrix was generated. According to the matrix, the most suitable management strategy was identified. It implies an intense protection of natural resources and landscape diversity in the national park by applying bio-engineering measures. This illustrative example proved that multi-criteria approval can be considered as a good deci­sion support tool when there is no need for a deeper insight into cardinal values of criteria weights and alternatives, or if the decision maker has to select few from many of alterna­tives to reduce the decision problem. For a more precise analysis, it is recommended to combine multi-criteria approval with other decision support tools, and future studies might deal with this problem in order to define an alternative framework for decision making in landscape management. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 174003: Theory and application of analytic hierarchy process (AHP in multi-criteria decision making under conditions of risk and uncer­tainty (individual and group context

Economic evaluation of an implementation strategy for the management of low back pain in general practice.

Science.gov (United States)

Jensen, Cathrine Elgaard; Riis, Allan; Petersen, Karin Dam; Jensen, Martin Bach; Pedersen, Kjeld Møller

2017-05-01

In connection with the publication of a clinical practice guideline on the management of low back pain (LBP) in general practice in Denmark, a cluster randomised controlled trial was conducted. In this trial, a multifaceted guideline implementation strategy to improve general practitioners' treatment of patients with LBP was compared with a usual implementation strategy. The aim was to determine whether the multifaceted strategy was cost effective, as compared with the usual implementation strategy. The economic evaluation was conducted as a cost-utility analysis where cost collected from a societal perspective and quality-adjusted life years were used as outcome measures. The analysis was conducted as a within-trial analysis with a 12-month time horizon consistent with the follow-up period of the clinical trial. To adjust for a priori selected covariates, generalised linear models with a gamma family were used to estimate incremental costs and quality-adjusted life years. Furthermore, both deterministic and probabilistic sensitivity analyses were conducted. Results showed that costs associated with primary health care were higher, whereas secondary health care costs were lower for the intervention group when compared with the control group. When adjusting for covariates, the intervention was less costly, and there was no significant difference in effect between the 2 groups. Sensitivity analyses showed that results were sensitive to uncertainty. In conclusion, the multifaceted implementation strategy was cost saving when compared with the usual strategy for implementing LBP clinical practice guidelines in general practice. Furthermore, there was no significant difference in effect, and the estimate was sensitive to uncertainty.

Evaluation of test intervals strategies with a risk monitor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Soerman, J.

2005-01-01

The Swedish nuclear power utility Oskarshamn Power Group (OKG), is investigating how the use of a risk monitor can facilitate and improve risk-informed decision-making at their nuclear power plants. The intent is to evaluate if risk-informed decision-making can be accepted. A pilot project was initiated and carried out in 2004. The project included investigating if a risk monitor can be used for optimising test intervals for diesel- and gas turbine generators with regard to risk level. The Oskarhamn 2 (O2), PSA Level 1 model was converted into a risk monitor using RiskSpectrum RiskWatcher (RSRW) software. The converted PSA model included the complete PSA model for the power operation mode. RSRW then performs a complete requantification for every analysis. Time dependent reliability data are taken into account, i.e. a shorter test interval will increases the components availability (possibility to e.g. start on demand). The converted O2 model was then used to investigate whether it would be possible to balance longer test intervals for diesel generators, gas turbine generators and high pressure injection system with shorter test intervals for the low pressure injection system, while maintaining a low risk level at the plant. The results show that a new mixture of test intervals can be implemented with only marginally changes in the risk calculated with the risk monitor model. The results indicate that the total number of test activities for the systems included in the pilot study could be reduced by 20% with a maintained level of risk. A risk monitor taking into account the impact from test intervals in availability calculations for components is well suited for evaluation of test interval strategies. It also enables the analyst to evaluate the risk level over a period of time including the impact the actual status of the plant may have on the risk level. (author)

Keeping the Game Alive: Evaluating Strategies for the Preservation of Console Video Games

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mark Guttenbrunner

2010-07-01

Full Text Available Interactive fiction and video games are part of our cultural heritage. As original systems cease to work because of hardware and media failures, methods to preserve obsolete video games for future generations have to be developed. The public interest in early video games is high, as exhibitions, regular magazines on the topic and newspaper articles demonstrate. Moreover, games considered to be classic are rereleased for new generations of gaming hardware. However, with the rapid development of new computer systems, the way games look and are played changes constantly. When trying to preserve console video games one faces problems of classified development documentation, legal aspects and extracting the contents from original media like cartridges with special hardware. Furthermore, special controllers and non-digital items are used to extend the gaming experience making it difficult to preserve the look and feel of console video games.This paper discusses strategies for the digital preservation of console video games. After a short overview of console video game systems, there follows an introduction to digital preservation and related work in common strategies for digital preservation and preserving interactive art. Then different preservation strategies are described with a specific focus on emulation. Finally a case study on console video game preservation is shown which uses the Planets preservation planning approach for evaluating preservation strategies in a documented decision-making process. Experiments are carried out to compare different emulators as well as other approaches, first for a single console video game system, then for different console systems of the same era and finally for systems of all eras. Comparison and discussion of results show that, while emulation works very well in principle for early console video games, various problems exist for the general use as a digital preservation alternative. We show what future work

CUSTOMER EQUITY:MAKING MARKETING STRATEGY FINANCIALLY ACCOUNTABLE

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Ashwin ARAVINDAKSHAN; Roland T. RUST; Katherine N. LEMON; Valerie A. ZEITHAML

2004-01-01

The article presents an overview of the literature on customer equity and how customer equity provides an opportunity for marketers to make marketing strategy financially accountable.Traditionally, Return on Investment (ROI) models have been used to evaluate the financial expenditures required by the strategies as well as the financial returns gained by them. However in addition to requiring lengthy longitudinal data, these models also have the disadvantage of not evaluating the effect of the strategies on a firm's customer equity. The dominance of customer-centered thinking over product-centered thinking calls for a shift from product-based strategies to customer-based strategies. Hence, it is important to evaluate a firm's marketing strategies in terms of the drivers of its customer equity. The article summarizes a unified strategic framework that enables competing marketing strategy options to be traded off on the basis of projected financial return, which is operationalized as the change in a firm's customer equity relative to the incremental expenditure necessary to produce the change.

A Comprehensive Strategy to Evaluate Compatible Stability of Chinese Medicine Injection and Infusion Solutions Based on Chemical Analysis and Bioactivity Assay.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Jian-Ping; Liu, Yang; Guo, Jian-Ming; Shang, Er-Xin; Zhu, Zhen-Hua; Zhu, Kevin Y; Tang, Yu-Ping; Zhao, Bu-Chang; Tang, Zhi-Shu; Duan, Jin-Ao

2017-01-01

Stability of traditional Chinese medicine injection (TCMI) is an important issue related with its clinical application. TCMI is composed of multi-components, therefore, when evaluating TCMI stability, several marker compounds cannot represent global components or biological activities of TCMI. Till now, when evaluating TCMI stability, method involving the global components or biological activities has not been reported. In this paper, we established a comprehensive strategy composed of three different methods to evaluate the chemical and biological stability of a typical TCMI, Danhong injection (DHI). UHPLC-TQ/MS was used to analyze the stability of marker compounds (SaA, SaB, RA, DSS, PA, CA, and SG) in DHI, UHPLC-QTOF/MS was used to analyze the stability of global components (MW 80-1000 Da) in DHI, and cell based antioxidant capability assay was used to evaluate the bioactivity of DHI. We applied this strategy to assess the compatible stability of DHI and six infusion solutions (GS, NS, GNS, FI, XI, and DGI), which were commonly used in combination with DHI in clinic. GS was the best infusion solution for DHI, and DGI was the worst one based on marker compounds analysis. Based on global components analysis, XI and DGI were the worst infusion solutions for DHI. And based on bioactivity assay, GS was the best infusion solution for DHI, and XI was the worst one. In conclusion, as evaluated by the established comprehensive strategy, GS was the best infusion solution, however, XI and DGI were the worst infusion solutions for DHI. In the compatibility of DHI and XI or DGI, salvianolic acids in DHI would be degraded, resulting in the reduction of original composition and generation of new components, and leading to the changes of biological activities. This is the essence of instability compatibility of DHI and some infusion solutions. Our study provided references for choosing the reasonable infusion solutions for DHI, which could contribute the improvement of safety

Evaluation of bovine viral diarrhoea virus control strategies in dairy herds in Hokkaido, Japan, using stochastic modelling.

Science.gov (United States)

Sekiguchi, S; Presi, P; Omori, R; Staerk, K; Schuppers, M; Isoda, N; Yoshikawa, Y; Umemura, T; Nakayama, H; Fujii, Y; Sakoda, Y

2018-02-01

Bovine viral diarrhoea virus (BVDV) infection in cattle can result in growth retardation, reduced milk production, reproductive disorders and death. Persistently infected animals are the primary source of infection. In Hokkaido, Japan, all cattle entering shared pastures in summer are vaccinated before movement for disease control. Additionally, these cattle may be tested for BVDV and culled if positive. However, the effectiveness of this control strategy aiming to reduce the number of BVDV-infected animals has not been assessed. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of various test-and-cull and/or vaccination strategies on BVDV control in dairy farms in two districts of Hokkaido, Nemuro and Hiyama. A stochastic model was developed to compare the different control strategies over a 10-year period. The model was individual-based and simulated disease dynamics both within and between herds. Parameters included in the model were obtained from the literature, the Hokkaido government and the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. Nine different scenarios were compared as follows: no control, test-and-cull strategies based on antigen testing of either calves or only cattle entering common pastures, vaccination of all adult cattle or only cattle entering shared pastures and combinations thereof. The results indicate that current strategies for BVDV control in Hokkaido slightly reduced the number of BVDV-infected animals; however, alternative strategies such as testing all calves and culling any positives or vaccinating all susceptible adult animals dramatically reduced those. To our knowledge, this is the first report regarding the comparison of the effectiveness between the current strategies in Hokkaido and the alternative strategies for BVDV control measures. © 2017 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.

A strategy for field shape evaluation in digital portal imaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vos, P.H.; Quist, M.; Weistra, J.; Vossepoel, A.M.

1995-01-01

Digital portal imagers allow accurate measurement of the field shape in radiotherapy. A strategy is introduced to determine origin and magnitude of discrepancies between the prescribed and measured field outline. After measurement of the actual detector position relative to the beam a conversion is made from pixels in the image matrix to mm in the plane of the isocenter, without using information from the imaged field. Using a distance transform a quick check is performed: the outline is accepted if all outline points deviate less then a predefined minimum (usually 5 mm). Subsequent evaluation starts if somewhere in the outline this minimum is exceeded. The collimator defined parts in the field outline are discriminated from the shielding blocks using an enclosing rectangle of the portal outline. This rectangle is found by minimization of the area as a function of rotation. If more than one solution is available, minimization of the entropy of the field outline projections determines which rectangle corresponds best to the field outline. A check for the validity of the determined collimator parts is performed with a separate linear fit through these parts. An outline part is accepted as a collimator outline part if it is longer than a predefined length. Using this procedure the position for each of the collimator jaws can be individually measured and compared with its prescription, thus allowing discrimination between symmetric and asymmetric collimator set-ups. Using the distance transform again, for each of the detected (secondary) shielding blocks the largest discrepancy or the area giving underdosage or overdosage can be computed to evaluate their shape and position. Parameter(s) and criteria that should be used to evaluate the field set-up are specified in clinical protocols. For standard shielding blocks usually only a maximum tolerated difference is specified, whereas for mantle fields also maximum allowed over- and underdose areas are specified. The

Humanized mice: models for evaluating NeuroHIV and cure strategies.

Science.gov (United States)

Honeycutt, Jenna B; Garcia, J Victor

2018-04-01

While the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) epidemic was initially characterized by a high prevalence of severe and widespread neurological pathologies, the development of better treatments to suppress viremia over years and even decades has mitigated many of the severe neurological pathologies previously observed. Despite effective treatment, mild neurocognitive impairment and premature cognitive aging are observed in HIV-infected individuals, suggesting a changing but ongoing role of HIV infection in the central nervous system (CNS). Although current therapies are effective in suppressing viremia, they are not curative and patients must remain on life-long treatment or risk recrudescence of virus. Important for the development and evaluation of a cure for HIV will be animal models that recapitulate critical aspects of infection in vivo. In the following, we seek to summarize some of the recent developments in humanized mouse models and their usefulness in modeling HIV infection of the CNS and HIV cure strategies.

Case study of the United States Marine Corps Advanced Amphibious Assault Vehicle (AAAV) program test and evaluation strategy

OpenAIRE

Buckles, Brian K.

1999-01-01

This thesis examined the evolution of the Direct Reporting Program Manager- Advanced Amphibious Assault's test and evaluation strategy from Milestone 0 to the present. The research effort involved reviewing the evolution of amphibious doctrine and amphibious vehicles, reviewing the DoD Acquisition Process and the role of T&E in that Acquisition Process, and analyzing three DRPM-AAA Test and Evaluation Master Plans. Interviews were conducted with personnel from the DRPM-AAA office and General ...

Evaluation of continuing education of family health strategy teams for the early identification of suspected cases of cancer in children.

Science.gov (United States)

Costa, Ana Maria Aranha Magalhaes; Magluta, Cynthia; Gomes Junior, Saint Clair

2017-09-07

This study evaluated the influence of continuing education of family health strategy teams by the Ronald McDonald Institute program on the early diagnosis of cancer in children and adolescents. The study applied Habicht's model to evaluate the adequacy and plausibility of continuing education by using as outcome the number of children with suspected cancer who were referred to the hospital of references in the 1 year before and 1 year after intervention and the number of patients referred by intervention group and control group family health strategy teams. Medical records from each hospital of reference were used to collect information of suspect cases of cancer. Descriptive analyses were performed using frequencies and mean values. Chi-square tests were used to assess statistically significant differences between the groups and periods by using p-values family health strategy teams that underwent the intervention referred 3.6 times more number of children to hospital of references than did the control group. Only the intervention group showed an increase in the number of confirmed cases. This evaluation of a continuing education program for early identification of pediatric cancer showed that the program was adequate in achieving the established goals and that the results could be attributed to the program.

National strategy of nuclear power intellectual property

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bo Huaitao

2008-01-01

The IP strategy includes four strategic levels: international level, national level, industry level and enterprise level. The national nuclear power IP strategy is an industry level strategy, which is also one part of national IP strategy, permeating with the IP strategy of the international level and enterprise level mutually. Commencing from the angles of the national level and the industry level, the author tries to provide a reference for IP strategy by an initial study about IP strategy in nuclear power industry.. The author holds that independent innovation is at the root of strategic establishment; enterprise is the main body for strategic implementation; and evaluating index must be consummated in the strategic evaluation. (authors)

The promise and challenge of practice-research collaborations: Guiding principles and strategies for initiating, designing, and implementing program evaluation research.

Science.gov (United States)

Secret, Mary; Abell, Melissa L; Berlin, Trey

2011-01-01

The authors present a set of guiding principles and strategies to facilitate the collaborative efforts of social work researchers and practitioners as they initiate, design, and implement outcome evaluations of human service interventions and programs. Beginning with an exploration of the interpersonal barriers to practice-research collaborations, and building on their experiences in successfully completing a community-based research evaluation, the authors identify specific relationship-focused principles and strategies and illustrate how these approaches can guide practice-research teams through the various sequential activities of the evaluation research process. In particular, it is suggested that practice-research collaborations can be formed, strengthened, and sustained by emphasis on a spirit of discovery and shared leadership at the start of the relationship, use of a comprehensive evaluation model to clarify and frame the evaluation and program goals, beginning where the client is when selecting research methodology and measurement tools, commitment to keeping the program first and recording everything during the implementation and data-collection stages, discussion of emerging findings and presentation of findings in graphic format at the data-analysis stage, and a total team approach at the dissemination stage.

Evaluation of a New Strategy for Attending Takeoffs and Landings to Reduce Aircraft Operating Costs and Passenger Delays at the Mexico City International Airport

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Herrera-García Alfonso

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The objective of this research was to evaluate a strategy for attending the takeoffs and landings at a congested airport, in order to reduce aircraft operating costs and passenger delay times. The continuous growth of air transport activity has created congestion at major airports worldwide, this situation produces increases in the aircraft operating costs and passenger discomfort. In the strategy evaluated the traditional rule for attending to aircraft, on a first-come-first-served basis, was substituted with a sequence that reduces operating costs and passenger delays. In order to perform this evaluation a discrete-event simulation model was developed for the Mexico City International Airport. Results showed that it is possible to obtain significant benefits if the proposed strategy is applied, an annual benefit of around 28.6 million pesos could be achieved.

A normative model for assessing competitive strategy

OpenAIRE

Ungerer, Gerard David; Cayzer, Steve

2016-01-01

The hyper-competitive nature of e-business has raised the need for a generic way to appraise the merit of a developed business strategy. Although progress has been made in the domain of strategy evaluation, the established literature differs over the ‘tests’ that a strategy must pass to be considered well-constructed. This paper therefore investigates the existing strategy-evaluation literature to propose a more integrated and comprehensive normative strategic assessment that can be used to e...

Evaluation of the National Teenage Pregnancy Strategy: final synthesis report

OpenAIRE

Wellings, Kaye; Wilkinson, Paul; Kane, Ros

2005-01-01

The Teenage Pregnancy Strategy in England, published in June 1999, is a multifaceted strategy that includes action to both halve the under 18 conception rate by 2010 and provide support to teenage parents to reduce the long term risk of social exclusion by increasing the proportion in education, training and employment. The Strategy has four major components: 1) a national media awareness campaign via independent radio and teenage magazines, 2) joined up action to ensure that ...

Balancing effluent quality, economic cost and greenhouse gas emissions during the evaluation of (plant-wide) control/operational strategies in WWTPs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Flores-Alsina, Xavier; Arnell, Magnus; Amerlinck, Youri; 2O Building, Emili Grahit 101, 17003 Girona (Spain))" data-affiliation=" (ICRA, Catalan Institute for Water Research, Scientific and Technological Park of the University of Girona, H2O Building, Emili Grahit 101, 17003 Girona (Spain))" >Corominas, Lluís; Gernaey, Krist V.; Guo, Lisha; Lindblom, Erik

2014-01-01

The objective of this paper was to show the potential additional insight that result from adding greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to plant performance evaluation criteria, such as effluent quality (EQI) and operational cost (OCI) indices, when evaluating (plant-wide) control/operational strategies in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). The proposed GHG evaluation is based on a set of comprehensive dynamic models that estimate the most significant potential on-site and off-site sources of CO 2 , CH 4 and N 2 O. The study calculates and discusses the changes in EQI, OCI and the emission of GHGs as a consequence of varying the following four process variables: (i) the set point of aeration control in the activated sludge section; (ii) the removal efficiency of total suspended solids (TSS) in the primary clarifier; (iii) the temperature in the anaerobic digester; and (iv) the control of the flow of anaerobic digester supernatants coming from sludge treatment. Based upon the assumptions built into the model structures, simulation results highlight the potential undesirable effects of increased GHG production when carrying out local energy optimization of the aeration system in the activated sludge section and energy recovery from the AD. Although off-site CO 2 emissions may decrease, the effect is counterbalanced by increased N 2 O emissions, especially since N 2 O has a 300-fold stronger greenhouse effect than CO 2 . The reported results emphasize the importance and usefulness of using multiple evaluation criteria to compare and evaluate (plant-wide) control strategies in a WWTP for more informed operational decision making. - Graphical abstract: The 3-D representation of effluent quality (EQI), operational cost (OCI) and greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) during the evaluation of several (plant-wide) control/operational strategies: (1) modification of the DO set point, (2) modification of the primary clarifier TSS removal efficiency and (3) modification of the anaerobic

Balancing effluent quality, economic cost and greenhouse gas emissions during the evaluation of (plant-wide) control/operational strategies in WWTPs

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Flores-Alsina, Xavier [Division of Industrial Electrical Engineering and Automation (IEA), Department of Measurement Technology and Industrial Electrical Engineering (MIE), Lund University, Box 118, SE-221 00 Lund (Sweden); Center for Process Engineering and Technology (PROCESS), Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, Building 229, DK-2800 Kgs. Lyngby (Denmark); Arnell, Magnus [Division of Industrial Electrical Engineering and Automation (IEA), Department of Measurement Technology and Industrial Electrical Engineering (MIE), Lund University, Box 118, SE-221 00 Lund (Sweden); CIT Urban Water Management, Gjuterigatan 1D, SE-582 73 Linköping (Sweden); Amerlinck, Youri [BIOMATH, Department of Mathematical Modelling, Statistics and Bioinformatics, Ghent University, Coupure Links 653, B-9000 Ghent (Belgium); Corominas, Lluís [ICRA, Catalan Institute for Water Research, Scientific and Technological Park of the University of Girona, H_2O Building, Emili Grahit 101, 17003 Girona (Spain); Gernaey, Krist V. [Center for Process Engineering and Technology (PROCESS), Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, Building 229, DK-2800 Kgs. Lyngby (Denmark); Guo, Lisha [ModelEAU, Département de génie civil et de génie des eaux, Université Laval, 1065 Avenue de la Médecine, Québec G1V 0A6, QC (Canada); Lindblom, Erik [Division of Industrial Electrical Engineering and Automation (IEA), Department of Measurement Technology and Industrial Electrical Engineering (MIE), Lund University, Box 118, SE-221 00 Lund (Sweden); Sweco Environment, Gjörwellsgatan 22, SE-100 26 Stockholm (Sweden); and others

2014-01-01

The objective of this paper was to show the potential additional insight that result from adding greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to plant performance evaluation criteria, such as effluent quality (EQI) and operational cost (OCI) indices, when evaluating (plant-wide) control/operational strategies in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). The proposed GHG evaluation is based on a set of comprehensive dynamic models that estimate the most significant potential on-site and off-site sources of CO{sub 2}, CH{sub 4} and N{sub 2}O. The study calculates and discusses the changes in EQI, OCI and the emission of GHGs as a consequence of varying the following four process variables: (i) the set point of aeration control in the activated sludge section; (ii) the removal efficiency of total suspended solids (TSS) in the primary clarifier; (iii) the temperature in the anaerobic digester; and (iv) the control of the flow of anaerobic digester supernatants coming from sludge treatment. Based upon the assumptions built into the model structures, simulation results highlight the potential undesirable effects of increased GHG production when carrying out local energy optimization of the aeration system in the activated sludge section and energy recovery from the AD. Although off-site CO{sub 2} emissions may decrease, the effect is counterbalanced by increased N{sub 2}O emissions, especially since N{sub 2}O has a 300-fold stronger greenhouse effect than CO{sub 2}. The reported results emphasize the importance and usefulness of using multiple evaluation criteria to compare and evaluate (plant-wide) control strategies in a WWTP for more informed operational decision making. - Graphical abstract: The 3-D representation of effluent quality (EQI), operational cost (OCI) and greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) during the evaluation of several (plant-wide) control/operational strategies: (1) modification of the DO set point, (2) modification of the primary clarifier TSS removal efficiency and (3

Recruitment and group composition strategies for family-based substance misuse prevention interventions: an exploratory evaluation

OpenAIRE

Segrott, Jeremy

2013-01-01

Purpose – This paper aims to report findings from an evaluation of the Strengthening Families Programme 10-14 (UK) (SFP 10-14 UK), focusing on the strategies used to recruit families into a universal prevention intervention, the approach taken to group composition, and the experiences of participating families.\\ud \\ud Design/methodology/approach – Methods comprised interviews with programme coordinating team members, a focus group with programme facilitators, focus groups with parents and you...

National evaluation of strategies to reduce safety violations for working from heights in construction companies: results from a randomized controlled trial.

Science.gov (United States)

van der Molen, Henk F; den Herder, Aalt; Warning, Jan; Frings-Dresen, Monique H W

2016-01-09

The objective of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of a face-to-face strategy and a direct mail strategy on safety violations while working from heights among construction companies compared to a control condition. Construction companies with workers at risk for fall injuries were eligible for this three-armed randomized controlled trial. In total, 27 cities were randomly assigned to intervention groups-where eligible companies were given either a face-to-face guidance strategy or a direct mailing strategy with access to internet facilities-or to a control group. The primary outcomes were the number and type of safety violations recorded by labor inspectors after three months. A process evaluation for both strategies was performed to determine reach, program implementation, satisfaction, knowledge and perceived safety behavior. A cost analysis was performed to establish the financial costs for each intervention strategy. Analyses were done by intention to treat. In total, 41% (n = 88) of the companies eligible for the face-to-face intervention participated and 73% (n = 69) for direct mail. Intervention materials were delivered to 69 % (face-to-face group) and 100 % (direct mail group); completion of intervention activities within companies was low. Satisfaction, increase in knowledge, and safety behavior did not differ between the intervention groups. Costs for personal advice were 28% higher than for direct mail. Ultimately, nine intervention companies were captured in the 288 worksite measurements performed by the labor inspectorate. No statistical differences in mean number of safety violations (1.8-2.4) or penalties (72%-100%) were found between the intervention and control groups based on all worksite inspections. No conclusions about the effect of face-to-face and direct mail strategies on safety violations could be drawn due to the limited number of intervention companies captured in the primary outcome measurements. The costs for a face

A study on evaluation strategies in dimensional X-ray computed tomography by estimation of measurement uncertainties

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Müller, Pavel; Hiller, Jochen; Cantatore, Angela

2012-01-01

Computed tomography has entered the industrial world in 1980’s as a technique for nondestructive testing and has nowadays become a revolutionary tool for dimensional metrology, suitable for actual/nominal comparison and verification of geometrical and dimensional tolerances. This paper evaluates...... measurement results using different measuring strategies applied in different inspection software packages for volume and surface data analysis. The strategy influence is determined by calculating the measurement uncertainty. This investigation includes measurements of two industrial items, an aluminium pipe...... connector and a plastic toggle, a hearing aid component. These are measured using a commercial CT scanner. Traceability is transferred using tactile and optical coordinate measuring machines, which are used to produce reference measurements. Results show that measurements of diameter for both parts resulted...

An evaluation of the total quality management implementation strategy for the advanced solid rocket motor project at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center. M.S. Thesis - Tennessee Univ.

Science.gov (United States)

Schramm, Harry F.; Sullivan, Kenneth W.

1991-01-01

An evaluation of the NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) strategy to implement Total Quality Management (TQM) in the Advanced Solid Rocket Motor (ASRM) Project is presented. The evaluation of the implementation strategy reflected the Civil Service personnel perspective at the project level. The external and internal environments at MSFC were analyzed for their effects on the ASRM TQM strategy. Organizational forms, cultures, management systems, problem solving techniques, and training were assessed for their influence on the implementation strategy. The influence of ASRM's effort was assessed relative to its impact on mature projects as well as future projects at MSFC.

Development, implementation, and evaluation of a mental rehearsal strategy to improve clinical performance and reduce stress: A mixed methods study.

Science.gov (United States)

Ignacio, Jeanette; Dolmans, Diana; Scherpbier, Albert; Rethans, Jan-Joost; Lopez, Violeta; Liaw, Sok Ying

2016-02-01

Mental rehearsal is a form of mental training that has been used by physicians and nurses to improve performance of clinical skills, and as a vital component of stress management training. To help novice nurses deal with often stressful clinical events that require the processing of information essential to patient management, a mental rehearsal strategy was developed and implemented in a Year 3 nursing simulation program. Inherent to mental rehearsal is imagery, which facilitates cognitive and affective modification, and reduction of extraneous cognitive load. As such, it was expected that the mental rehearsal strategy would improve students' performance and reduce stress in managing deteriorating patients. The study used a mixed methods design. Eighteen Year 3 nursing students participated in the pre- and post-design study, which consisted of the development and implementation of a mental rehearsal strategy. The Rescuing A Patient In Deteriorating Situations (RAPIDS) tool was used to assess performance. Heart rates and systolic blood pressures were used to measure stress. The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) was used as a psychological measure of stress/anxiety. Five participants were involved in a focus group discussion that evaluated the usefulness of the mental rehearsal strategy. There was a significant improvement in performance (Pstrategy. The mental rehearsal strategy for deteriorating patient management can be valuable based on the findings on performance and based on the participants' feedback. Its role in reducing stress, however, needs further evaluation. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Evaluation strategies for midwifery education linked to digital media and distance delivery technology.

Science.gov (United States)

Fullerton, Judith T; Ingle, Henry T

2003-01-01

The goal of the teaching and learning process for health professionals is the acquisition of a fundamental core of knowledge, the demonstration of critical thinking ability, and the demonstration of competency in the performance of clinical skills. Teaching and learning in distance education programs require that the administration, teachers, and students be creative in developing evaluation strategies that can be adapted to the challenges of the cyberspace on-line educational environment. Evaluation standards for distance education programs recently have been delineated by federal agencies, private organizations, and academic accreditation associations. These standards are linked to principles of sound education practice that promote program quality, high levels of student-faculty interaction, and support effective teaching and learning in the distance education context. A growing body of evidence supports the conclusion that technology-enhanced teaching is equivalent in effectiveness compared with traditional methods when student-learning outcomes are the focus of measurement. An allied body of literature offers model approaches that can be useful to educators who must also conduct the evaluation of clinical skills, provide feedback, and promote socialization to the nurse-midwifery/midwifery role for students being educated in whole or in part through instruction delivered at a distance.

Conceptual maps as evaluation strategy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dionísio Borsato

2007-03-01

Full Text Available The following work shows the conceptual map as an evaluation tool. In this study, an opening text was used as a previous organizer, with a theme related to the students’ daily lives. The developed activity consisted in elaborating conceptual maps before and after the experimental works. The evaluation was applied to 21 students of the 1st grade and 22 of the 3rd grade of High School. The elaborated maps were scored according to hierarchy, propositions, linking words, cross linking and examples. The classification of the maps elaborated before and after the experimental activity, was obtained having as a parameter, a referential conceptual map. In this classification many differences were observed between the first and second maps of both grades and among the groups. The elaboration of conceptual maps showed great potential as evaluation resources.

Sampling strategies in antimicrobial resistance monitoring: evaluating how precision and sensitivity vary with the number of animals sampled per farm.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Takehisa Yamamoto

Full Text Available Because antimicrobial resistance in food-producing animals is a major public health concern, many countries have implemented antimicrobial monitoring systems at a national level. When designing a sampling scheme for antimicrobial resistance monitoring, it is necessary to consider both cost effectiveness and statistical plausibility. In this study, we examined how sampling scheme precision and sensitivity can vary with the number of animals sampled from each farm, while keeping the overall sample size constant to avoid additional sampling costs. Five sampling strategies were investigated. These employed 1, 2, 3, 4 or 6 animal samples per farm, with a total of 12 animals sampled in each strategy. A total of 1,500 Escherichia coli isolates from 300 fattening pigs on 30 farms were tested for resistance against 12 antimicrobials. The performance of each sampling strategy was evaluated by bootstrap resampling from the observational data. In the bootstrapping procedure, farms, animals, and isolates were selected randomly with replacement, and a total of 10,000 replications were conducted. For each antimicrobial, we observed that the standard deviation and 2.5-97.5 percentile interval of resistance prevalence were smallest in the sampling strategy that employed 1 animal per farm. The proportion of bootstrap samples that included at least 1 isolate with resistance was also evaluated as an indicator of the sensitivity of the sampling strategy to previously unidentified antimicrobial resistance. The proportion was greatest with 1 sample per farm and decreased with larger samples per farm. We concluded that when the total number of samples is pre-specified, the most precise and sensitive sampling strategy involves collecting 1 sample per farm.

Understanding risk evaluation and mitigation strategies in organ transplantation.

Science.gov (United States)

Gabardi, Steven

2011-07-01

The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Amendments Act of 2007 mandated that Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategies (REMS) be required of manufacturers. These REMS are strategies implemented to manage known or potential risks associated with drugs and to ensure ongoing pharmacovigilance throughout the life of a pharmaceutical product, including once the product becomes available as generic. The elements of an individual REMS program consist of three levels: medication guide or patient package insert, communication plan, and elements to assure safe use (ETASU). A medication guide or patient package insert is used to help prevent serious adverse events, aid in patient decision making, and enhance drug adherence. Communication plans are used to educate health care providers and to encourage their compliance with REMS. The ETASU is a restrictive process that is implemented when it is deemed necessary to ensure that patients have safe access to products with known serious risks that would otherwise be unavailable. To review the components of REMS and specifically assess their impact on health care providers practicing within the organ transplantation arena, a literature search of the MEDLINE database (January 2007-December 2010) was performed, and published materials from the FDA and its Web site were also reviewed. In transplantation, REMS programs exist for both everolimus (medication guide and communication plan) and sirolimus (medication guide). The FDA has stated that all mycophenolic acid derivatives will be subject to a proposed REMS that has not yet been approved; however, both branded mycophenolic acid agents already have approved medication guides. The REMS are a permanent fixture in the development and marketing of pharmaceutical agents, and their further implementation in solid organ transplantation is inevitable. Transplantation providers should take a proactive role in patient education and implementation of REMS within the therapeutic area

A strategy to objectively evaluate the necessity of correcting detected target deviations in image guided radiotherapy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yue, Ning J.; Kim, Sung; Jabbour, Salma; Narra, Venkat; Haffty, Bruce G.

2007-01-01

Image guided radiotherapy technologies are being increasingly utilized in the treatment of various cancers. These technologies have enhanced the ability to detect temporal and spatial deviations of the target volume relative to planned radiation beams. Correcting these detected deviations may, in principle, improve the accuracy of dose delivery to the target. However, in many situations, a clinical decision has to be made as to whether it is necessary to correct some of the deviations since the relevant dosimetric impact may or may not be significant, and the corresponding corrective action may be either impractical or time consuming. Ideally this decision should be based on objective and reproducible criteria rather than subjective judgment. In this study, a strategy is proposed for the objective evaluation of the necessity of deviation correction during the treatment verification process. At the treatment stage, without any alteration from the planned beams, the treatment beams should provide the desired dose coverage to the geometric volume identical to the planning target volume (PTV). Given this fact, the planned dose distribution and PTV geometry were used to compute the dose coverage and PTV enclosure of the clinical target volume (CTV) that was detected from imaging during the treatment setup verification. The spatial differences between the detected CTV and the planning CTV are essentially the target deviations. The extent of the PTV enclosure of the detected CTV as well as its dose coverage were used as criteria to evaluate the necessity of correcting any of the target deviations. This strategy, in principle, should be applicable to any type of target deviations, including both target deformable and positional changes and should be independent of how the deviations are detected. The proposed strategy was used on two clinical prostate cancer cases. In both cases, gold markers were implanted inside the prostate for the purpose of treatment setup

Evaluation of motion management strategies based on required margins

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sawkey, D; Svatos, M; Zankowski, C

2012-01-01

Strategies for delivering radiation to a moving lesion each require a margin to compensate for uncertainties in treatment. These motion margins have been determined here by separating the total uncertainty into components. Probability density functions for the individual sources of uncertainty were calculated for ten motion traces obtained from the literature. Motion margins required to compensate for the center of mass motion of the clinical treatment volume were found by convolving the individual sources of uncertainty. For measurements of position at a frequency of 33 Hz, system latency was the dominant source of positional uncertainty. Averaged over the ten motion traces, the motion margin for tracking with a latency of 200 ms was 4.6 mm. Gating with a duty cycle of 33% required a mean motion margin of 3.2–3.4 mm, and tracking with a latency of 100 ms required a motion margin of 3.1 mm. Feasible reductions in the effects of the sources of uncertainty, for example by using a simple prediction algorithm to anticipate the lesion position at the end of the latency period, resulted in a mean motion margin of 1.7 mm for tracking with a latency of 100 ms, 2.4 mm for tracking with a latency of 200 ms, and 2.1–2.2 mm for the gating strategies with duty cycles of 33%. A crossover tracking latency of 150 ms was found, below which tracking strategies could take advantage of narrower motion margins than gating strategies. The methods described here provide a means to guide selection of a motion management strategy for a given patient. (paper)

Enable, Engage and Evaluate: Introducing the 3E Social Media Strategy Canvas Based on the European Airline Industry

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Spil, Antonius A.M.; Effing, Robin; Both, Menno P.; Dwivedi, Yogesh K.; Mantymaki, Matti; Ravishankar, M.N.; Janssen, Marijn; Clement, Marc; Slade, Emma L.; Rana, Nripendra P.; Al-Sharhan, Salah; Simintiras, Antonis C.

2016-01-01

The strategic use of social media has increased in importance. However, there is a lack of theory to design and evaluate social media strategies. In a competitive environment, airlines need to excel on service, customer satisfaction and marketing. Social media could support those areas of business.

Strategy and Evaluation of Vehicle Collision Avoidance Control via Hardware-in-the-Loop Platform

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sin-Li Chen

2016-11-01

Full Text Available This paper proposes a novel control approach for vehicle collision avoidance of urban vehicles. For safe driving in urban environments, this paper presents both one-dimensional and two-dimensional solutions, which can be applied to the collision avoidance via steering assistance, automatic braking, and warning of collision. Strategies are verified under the software CarSim, and the experimental evaluations are carried out under the combination of CarSim with a hardware-in-the-loop platform. The results show the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed algorithm on vehicle collision avoidance.

Empowered? Evaluating Japan's national energy strategy under the DPJ administration

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Valentine, Scott, E-mail: valentine@pp.u-tokyo.ac.j [Graduate School of Public Policy (GraSPP), University of Tokyo, 620 Administration Bureau Building No. 2, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033 (Japan); Sovacool, Benjamin K., E-mail: bsovacool@nus.edu.s [Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore, 02-03J Oei Tiong Ham Building, 469C Bukit Timah Road, Singapore 259772 (Singapore); Matsuura, Masahiro, E-mail: matsuura@pp.u-tokyo.ac.j [Graduate School of Public Policy (GraSPP), University of Tokyo, 620 Administration Bureau Building No. 2, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033 (Japan)

2011-03-15

In August 2009, after 54 years of virtually unbroken rule, Japan's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) was ousted from power by the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ). The DPJ's campaign platform included a pledge to facilitate extreme reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Yet, at the COP16 meeting in Cancun, Japan announced that it would not accept further emission reduction targets without broader commitment from all nations. This paper seeks to explain this dichotomy by employing a targeted stakeholder evaluation based on surveys with 321 Japanese citizens to assess the extent to which influential stakeholder groups in Japan supports a potentially costly transition to a low-carbon energy infrastructure amidst severe economic challenges that the nation faces. Findings help explain Japan's adversarial role in COP16 negotiations in Cancun, despite the stated GHG reduction ambitions of Japan's current ruling party. The analysis concludes that if the DPJ does embrace aggressive CO{sub 2} reduction targets in the future, the strategic focus will likely mirror the former ruling party's energy policy of bolstering nuclear power generation capacity and promoting energy efficiency improvements while exhibiting lukewarm commitment to supporting capacity development in alternative sources of energy supply such as solar panels and wind turbines. - Research highlights: {yields} Public consensus exists regarding which energy policy goals are important in Japan. {yields} Minor perceptual differences are not of a catalytic nature. {yields} Public consensus does not deviate significantly from past LDP energy policy. {yields} Unlikely that the DPJ will pursue costly energy transition initiatives. {yields} Likely that the DPJ energy strategy will be substantively similar to LDP strategy. {yields} Any differences in strategy will focus on CO{sub 2} reduction magnitude not substance.

Evaluating the Sharing Stories youth theatre program: an interactive theatre and drama-based strategy for sexual health promotion among multicultural youth.

Science.gov (United States)

Roberts, Meagan; Lobo, Roanna; Sorenson, Anne

2017-03-01

Issue addressed Rates of sexually transmissible infections among young people are high, and there is a need for innovative, youth-focused sexual health promotion programs. This study evaluated the effectiveness of the Sharing Stories youth theatre program, which uses interactive theatre and drama-based strategies to engage and educate multicultural youth on sexual health issues. The effectiveness of using drama-based evaluation methods is also discussed. Methods The youth theatre program participants were 18 multicultural youth from South East Asian, African and Middle Eastern backgrounds aged between 14 and 21 years. Four sexual health drama scenarios and a sexual health questionnaire were used to measure changes in knowledge and attitudes. Results Participants reported being confident talking to and supporting their friends with regards to safe sex messages, improved their sexual health knowledge and demonstrated a positive shift in their attitudes towards sexual health. Drama-based evaluation methods were effective in engaging multicultural youth and worked well across the cultures and age groups. Conclusions Theatre and drama-based sexual health promotion strategies are an effective method for up-skilling young people from multicultural backgrounds to be peer educators and good communicators of sexual health information. Drama-based evaluation methods are engaging for young people and an effective way of collecting data from culturally diverse youth. So what? This study recommends incorporating interactive and arts-based strategies into sexual health promotion programs for multicultural youth. It also provides guidance for health promotion practitioners evaluating an arts-based health promotion program using arts-based data collection methods.

Mitigating action strategies in radiological emergencies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carrillo, D.

1984-08-01

On the basis of an assumed reactor accident, the report deals with the evaluation of the emergency response effectiveness obtained under several response strategies. The selected strategies consider sheltering, evacuation and short-term relocation (24 h) separately and in combination. The selected strategies give rise to different biological radiation effects. These effects are used as comparative parameters in the evaluation of the response effectiveness. The biological radiation effects have been calculated by means of the consequence assessment program CRAC 2

[National strategy in the battle against scorpion stings and envenomations. Application and evaluation].

Science.gov (United States)

Soulaymani Bencheikh, R; Faraj, Z; Semlali, I; Ouammi, L; Badri, M

2003-11-01

Scorpion stings represent the first cause of poisoning with an incidence of 30 to 50% of all declared cases in the Centre Anti Poison of Morocco (CAPM). Aware of this increasing problem, the CAPM paid special attention to this pathology. Thanks to its retrospective and prospective studies, the scorpion species mapping has been determined as well as the demographic features of stung patients, the nature and the chronology of clinical events in scorpion envenimation, and the epidemiological, clinical and therapeutical factors of severity. On this basis, the CAPM worked out a national strategy to struggle against scorpion stings whose aim was to decrease the morbidity and mortality caused by stings of scorpion as well as to rationalise economic expenses. The components of this strategy were based on the training of the medical and paramedical staff, on information, education, communication involving different sectors, on identification of needs and on follow-up and assessment. A nationwide campaign was implemented to change the population and health-care staff's behaviour regarding this pathology. Its evaluation permitted to improve the compilation of cases with census of 14104 cases, to reduce lethality rate and to rationalise expenses while banishing some medicines and avoiding useless hospitalization.

An evaluation of an enquiry based learning strategy for the science of imaging technology

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Naylor, Sarah, E-mail: Sarah.Naylor@shu.ac.uk [Diagnostic Imaging, Sheffield Hallam University, Collegiate Campus, Sheffield (United Kingdom)

2011-11-15

Diagnostic radiography is a science based health course. Due to the variation in science background of the students at entry level the imaging science modules can be problematic. Enquiry based learning (EBL) was introduced as teaching strategy in an imaging science module in order to promote learner autonomy and enhance the student experience. The module was evaluated using a questionnaire containing both open and closed questions. The impact of working as a team was a strong theme emerging from the evaluation of the project, with the majority of students viewing teamwork as beneficial to their learning. It was identified that they gained support from the team, and this assisted their learning. The enhancement of transferable skills and the promotion of learner autonomy were achieved. Areas for further investigation are the utilisation of peer assessment and a science event for the summative assessment.

An evaluation of an enquiry based learning strategy for the science of imaging technology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Naylor, Sarah

2011-01-01

Diagnostic radiography is a science based health course. Due to the variation in science background of the students at entry level the imaging science modules can be problematic. Enquiry based learning (EBL) was introduced as teaching strategy in an imaging science module in order to promote learner autonomy and enhance the student experience. The module was evaluated using a questionnaire containing both open and closed questions. The impact of working as a team was a strong theme emerging from the evaluation of the project, with the majority of students viewing teamwork as beneficial to their learning. It was identified that they gained support from the team, and this assisted their learning. The enhancement of transferable skills and the promotion of learner autonomy were achieved. Areas for further investigation are the utilisation of peer assessment and a science event for the summative assessment.

An Adaptive Particle Weighting Strategy for ECG Denoising Using Marginalized Particle Extended Kalman Filter: An Evaluation in Arrhythmia Contexts.

Science.gov (United States)

Hesar, Hamed Danandeh; Mohebbi, Maryam

2017-11-01

Model-based Bayesian frameworks have a common problem in processing electrocardiogram (ECG) signals with sudden morphological changes. This situation often happens in the case of arrhythmias where ECGs do not obey the predefined state models. To solve this problem, in this paper, a model-based Bayesian denoising framework is proposed using marginalized particle-extended Kalman filter (MP-EKF), variational mode decomposition, and a novel fuzzy-based adaptive particle weighting strategy. This strategy helps MP-EKF to perform well even when the morphology of signal does not comply with the predefined dynamic model. In addition, this strategy adapts MP-EKF's behavior to the acquired measurements in different input signal to noise ratios (SNRs). At low input SNRs, this strategy decreases the particles' trust level to the measurements while increasing their trust level to a synthetic ECG constructed with the feature parameters of ECG dynamic model. At high input SNRs, the particles' trust level to the measurements is increased and the trust level to synthetic ECG is decreased. The proposed method was evaluated on MIT-BIH normal sinus rhythm database and compared with EKF/EKS frameworks and previously proposed MP-EKF. It was also evaluated on ECG segments extracted from MIT-BIH arrhythmia database, which contained ventricular and atrial arrhythmia. The results showed that the proposed algorithm had a noticeable superiority over benchmark methods from both SNR improvement and multiscale entropy based weighted distortion (MSEWPRD) viewpoints at low input SNRs.

Strategy-aligned fuzzy approach for market segment evaluation and selection: a modular decision support system by dynamic network process (DNP)

Science.gov (United States)

Mohammadi Nasrabadi, Ali; Hosseinpour, Mohammad Hossein; Ebrahimnejad, Sadoullah

2013-05-01

In competitive markets, market segmentation is a critical point of business, and it can be used as a generic strategy. In each segment, strategies lead companies to their targets; thus, segment selection and the application of the appropriate strategies over time are very important to achieve successful business. This paper aims to model a strategy-aligned fuzzy approach to market segment evaluation and selection. A modular decision support system (DSS) is developed to select an optimum segment with its appropriate strategies. The suggested DSS has two main modules. The first one is SPACE matrix which indicates the risk of each segment. Also, it determines the long-term strategies. The second module finds the most preferred segment-strategies over time. Dynamic network process is applied to prioritize segment-strategies according to five competitive force factors. There is vagueness in pairwise comparisons, and this vagueness has been modeled using fuzzy concepts. To clarify, an example is illustrated by a case study in Iran's coffee market. The results show that success possibility of segments could be different, and choosing the best ones could help companies to be sure in developing their business. Moreover, changing the priority of strategies over time indicates the importance of long-term planning. This fact has been supported by a case study on strategic priority difference in short- and long-term consideration.

Influence of Different CAM Strategies on the Fit of Partial Crown Restorations: A Digital Three-dimensional Evaluation.

Science.gov (United States)

Zimmermann, M; Valcanaia, A; Neiva, G; Mehl, A; Fasbinder, D

2018-04-09

CAM fabrication is an important step within the CAD/CAM process. The internal fit of restorations is influenced by the accuracy of the subtractive CAM procedure. Little is known about how CAM strategies might influence the fit of CAD/CAM fabricated restorations. The aim of this study was to three-dimensionally evaluate the fit of CAD/CAM fabricated zirconia-reinforced lithium silicate ceramic partial crowns fabricated with three different CAM strategies. The null hypothesis was that different CAM strategies did not influence the fitting accuracy of CAD/CAM fabricated zirconia-reinforced lithium silicate ceramic partial crowns. Preparation for a partial crown was performed on a maxillary right first molar on a typodont. A chairside CAD/CAM system with the intraoral scanning device CEREC Omnicam (Dentsply Sirona, York, PA, USA) and the 3+1 axis milling unit CEREC MCXL was used. There were three groups with different CAM strategies: step bur 12 (12), step bur 12S (12S), and two step-mode (12TWO). The zirconia-reinforced lithium silicate ceramic Celtra Duo (Dentsply Sirona) was used as the CAD/CAM material. A new 3D method for evaluating the fit was applied, consisting of the quadrant scan with the intraoral scanning device CEREC Omnicam. The scan of the PVS material adherent to the preparation and the preparation scan were matched, and the difference analysis was performed with special software OraCheck (Cyfex AG, Zurich, Switzerland). Three areas were selected for analysis: margin (MA), axial (AX), and occlusal (OC). Statistical analysis was performed using 80% percentile, one-way ANOVA, and the post hoc Scheffé test with α=0.05. Statistically significant differences were found both within and between the test groups. The aspect axial fit results varied from 90.5 ± 20.1 μm for the two-step milling mode (12TWO_AX) to 122.8 ± 12.2 μm for the milling with step bur 12S (12S_AX). The worst result in all groups was found for the aspect occlusal fit with the highest

Self-Regulated Assignment Attack Strategy: Evaluating the Effects of a Classroom-Level Intervention on Student Management of Curricular Activities in a Resource Context

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Ness, Bryan M.; Sohlberg, McKay Moore

2013-01-01

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of a classroom-based strategy instruction package grounded in self-regulated learning. The Self-Regulated Assignment Attack Strategy (SAAS) targeted self-regulation of assignment management and related academic-behavioral variables for 6th grade students in resource support classrooms. SAAS was…

Evaluation and Management of Neonatal Dysphagia: Impact of Pharyngoesophageal Motility Studies and Multidisciplinary Feeding Strategy

Science.gov (United States)

Jadcherla, Sudarshan R.; Stoner, Erin; Gupta, Alankar; Bates, D. Gregory; Fernandez, Soledad; Di Lorenzo, Carlo; Linscheid, Thomas

2013-01-01

Background and objectives Abnormal swallowing (dysphagia) among neonates is commonly evaluated using the videofluoroscopic swallow study (VSS). Radiological findings considered high risk for administration of oral feeding include nasopharyngeal reflux, laryngeal penetration, aspiration, or pooling. Our aims were to determine pharyngoesophageal motility correlates in neonates with dysphagia and the impact of multidisciplinary feeding strategy. Methods Twenty dysphagic neonates (mean gestation ± standard deviation [SD] = 30.9 ± 4.9 weeks; median 31.1 weeks; range = 23.7–38.6 weeks) with abnormal VSS results were evaluated at 49.9 ± 16.5 weeks (median 41.36 weeks) postmenstrual age. The subjects underwent a swallow-integrated pharyngoesophageal motility assessment of basal and adaptive swallowing reflexes using a micromanometry catheter and pneumohydraulic water perfusion system. Based on observations during the motility study, multidisciplinary feeding strategies were applied and included postural adaptation, sensory modification, hunger manipulation, and operant conditioning methods. To discriminate pharyngoesophageal manometry correlates between oral feeders and tube feeders, data were stratified based on the primary feeding method at discharge, oral feeding versus tube feeding. Results At discharge, 15 of 20 dysphagic neonates achieved oral feeding success, and the rest required chronic tube feeding. Pharyngoesophageal manometry correlates were significantly different (P dysphagia or its consequences. Manometry may be a better predictor than VSS in identifying patients who are likely to succeed in vigorous intervention programs. PMID:19179881

Developing and Evaluating Communication Strategies to Support Informed Decisions and Practice Based on Evidence (DECIDE): protocol and preliminary results.

Science.gov (United States)

Treweek, Shaun; Oxman, Andrew D; Alderson, Philip; Bossuyt, Patrick M; Brandt, Linn; Brożek, Jan; Davoli, Marina; Flottorp, Signe; Harbour, Robin; Hill, Suzanne; Liberati, Alessandro; Liira, Helena; Schünemann, Holger J; Rosenbaum, Sarah; Thornton, Judith; Vandvik, Per Olav; Alonso-Coello, Pablo

2013-01-09

Healthcare decision makers face challenges when using guidelines, including understanding the quality of the evidence or the values and preferences upon which recommendations are made, which are often not clear. GRADE is a systematic approach towards assessing the quality of evidence and the strength of recommendations in healthcare. GRADE also gives advice on how to go from evidence to decisions. It has been developed to address the weaknesses of other grading systems and is now widely used internationally. The Developing and Evaluating Communication Strategies to Support Informed Decisions and Practice Based on Evidence (DECIDE) consortium (http://www.decide-collaboration.eu/), which includes members of the GRADE Working Group and other partners, will explore methods to ensure effective communication of evidence-based recommendations targeted at key stakeholders: healthcare professionals, policymakers, and managers, as well as patients and the general public. Surveys and interviews with guideline producers and other stakeholders will explore how presentation of the evidence could be improved to better meet their information needs. We will collect further stakeholder input from advisory groups, via consultations and user testing; this will be done across a wide range of healthcare systems in Europe, North America, and other countries. Targeted communication strategies will be developed, evaluated in randomized trials, refined, and assessed during the development of real guidelines. Results of the DECIDE project will improve the communication of evidence-based healthcare recommendations. Building on the work of the GRADE Working Group, DECIDE will develop and evaluate methods that address communication needs of guideline users. The project will produce strategies for communicating recommendations that have been rigorously evaluated in diverse settings, and it will support the transfer of research into practice in healthcare systems globally.

Methodology for the economic evaluation of the strategies for spent fuel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zouain, D.M.

1981-08-01

A methodology for the economic evaluation of the spent fuel and a comparative analysis of the various available strategies for its treatment, is developed. For the realization of the proposed studies a computer program METACIR was developed, which incorporates the necessary computational methodology, and it was performed a analysis of the present situation and future tendencies of the stages that constitute a PWR nuclear fuel cycle. According to the obtained results, the eternal disposal of the spent fuel is less advantageous than the reprocessing and recycle options; between the last options, the uranium recycle in PWR's is the most attractive until nearly the end of the 1990's, when the uranium and plutonium recycle in LMFBR's becomes the most convenient. The economic value of the spent fuel varies with the reactor discharge date, being considered a onus during the 1980's, and a bonus only in the next decade. (Author) [pt

Evaluation of different frontier-based multi-robot exploration strategies

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Benkrid Abdenour

2016-01-01

Full Text Available In this paper, we focus on the problem of exploring an unknown environment by a team of mobile robots. The main objective is to compare four different coordination strategies based on frontier concept (boundaries between unexplored and explored open areas and analyze their performance in term of assignment quality, overall exploration time and computational complexity. In order to provide a suitable qualitative study we used three optimization criteria. Each strategy has been implemented and tested extensively in computerized simulation.

Assessment of Language Learners' Strategies: Do They Prefer Learning or Acquisition Strategies?

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Altmisdort, Gonca

2016-01-01

The aim of this study is to evaluate learning and acquisition strategies used by second/foreign language learners. This study is a comparative investigation of learning and acquisition strategies of successful and less successful language learners. The main question of the study is to investigate if there is a relationship between the learners'…

JCL roundtable: Risk evaluation and mitigation strategy.

Science.gov (United States)

Brown, W Virgil; Bramlet, Dean A; Ross, Joyce L; Underberg, James A

Many factors enter into the decision by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to approve a new drug for use by physicians and other health care providers in treating diseases. Initially, the FDA authority was restricted to issues of safety and only later did the documentation of efficacy become part of the review process required for approval. However, all drugs have the potential for causing harm at some dose level to all and at lower doses in certain patients with vulnerability to the particular pharmacology of the agent. As new drugs have been designed to manage disorders that are uncommon, but of significant consequence, they may have adverse effects that are acceptable only because they are so uniquely beneficial to these specific conditions. The risk of these adverse effects may be acceptable since the benefit can outweigh the harm in most patients and the adversity can be predicted and managed. The approval of this category of drugs has grown rapidly since definition of a mechanism of action to manage and modify the risk has been provided by a process known as known as Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy or "REMS." In 2007, the Food and Drug Administration Amendments Act (FDAAA) allowed the FDA to require postmarketing studies and the authority to mandate the implementation of a REMS for drugs with efficacy but documented potential for harm. Two relatively new drugs useful in the management of severe elevations of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol have been approved under a requirement for a REMS. These are lomitapide, an inhibitor of microsomal triglyceride transfer protein and mipomersen, an antisense oligonucleotide which reduces the synthesis of apolipoprotein B. Copyright © 2016 National Lipid Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Mycophenolate fetal toxicity and risk evaluation and mitigation strategies.

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Kim, M; Rostas, S; Gabardi, S

2013-06-01

The mycophenolic acid (MPA) preparations are one of the most commonly used immunosuppressants in the United States. However, these agents carry a black box warning regarding their use during pregnancy due to an association with increased risk of miscarriage and congenital defects. To ensure that the benefits of MPA outweigh the risks, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) required all manufacturers of MPA products to propose risk evaluation and mitigation strategies (REMS). Four years after initially calling for proposals, the FDA approved a single shared REMS system in September 2012. The elements of the MPA REMS include a medication guide and elements to assure safe use (ETASU). The medication guide, which was previously FDA-approved in 2008, should continue to be distributed to patients, and the ETASU requires physicians to complete training and obtain patient signatures on the "Patient-Prescriber Acknowledgement Form." A single, national, voluntary pregnancy registry is available, and pregnant patients should be encouraged to participate. Although the impact of the MPA REMS on clinical practice is not clear, it is a step toward increasing the understanding of fetal risks with MPA products among patients and possibly practitioners. © Copyright 2013 The American Society of Transplantation and the American Society of Transplant Surgeons.

Evaluating environmental and economic consequences of alternative pest management strategies: results of modeling workshops

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Johnson, Richard L.; Andrews, Austin K.; Auble, Gregor T.L.; Ellison, Richard A.; Hamilton, David B.; Roelle, James E.; McNamee, Peter J.

1983-01-01

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) needs a comprehensive method to evaluate the human health and environmental effects of alternative agricultural pest management strategies. This project explored the utility of Adaptive Environmental Assessment (AEA) techniques for meeting this need. The project objectives were to produce models for environmental impact analysis, improve communications, identify research needs and data requirements, and demonstrate a process for resolving conflicts. The project was structured around the construction (in an initial 2 1/2-day workshop) and examination (in a second 2 1/2-day workshop) of a simulation model of a corn agroecosystem.

Evaluation of the Voltage Support Strategies for the Low Voltage Grid Connected PV

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Demirok, Erhan; Sera, Dezso; Teodorescu, Remus

2010-01-01

Admissible range of grid voltage is one of the strictest constraints for the penetration of distributed photovoltaic (PV) generators especially connection to low voltage (LV) public networks. Voltage limits are usually fulfilled either by network reinforcements or limiting of power injections from...... PVs. In order to increase PV penetration level further, new voltage support control functions for individual inverters are required. This paper investigates distributed reactive power regulation and active power curtailment strategies regarding the development of PV connection capacity by evaluation...... of reactive power efforts and requirement of minimum active power curtailment. Furthermore, a small scale experimental setup is built to reflect real grid interaction in the laboratory by achieving critical types of grid (weak and sufficiently stiff)....

A novel strategy for evaluating the effects of an electronic test ordering alert message: Optimizing cardiac marker use.

Science.gov (United States)

Baron, Jason M; Lewandrowski, Kent B; Kamis, Irina K; Singh, Balaji; Belkziz, Sidi M; Dighe, Anand S

2012-01-01

Laboratory ordering functions within computerized provider order entry (CPOE) systems typically support the display of electronic alert messages to improve test utilization or implement new ordering policies. However, alert strategies have been shown to vary considerably in their success and the characteristics contributing to an alert's success are poorly understood. Improved methodologies are needed to evaluate alerts and their mechanisms of action. Clinicians order inpatient and emergency department laboratory tests using our institutional CPOE system. We analyzed user interaction data captured by our CPOE system to evaluate how clinicians responded to an alert. We evaluated an alert designed to implement an institutional policy restricting the indications for ordering creatine kinase-MB (CKMB). Within 2 months of alert implementation, CKMB-associated searches declined by 79% with a corresponding decline in CKMB orders. Furthermore, while prior to alert implementation, clinicians searching for CKMB ultimately ordered this test 99% of the time, following implementation, only 60% of CKMB searches ultimately led to CKMB test orders. This difference presumably represents clinicians who reconsidered the need for CKMB in response to the alert, demonstrating the alert's just-in-time advisory capability. In addition, as clinicians repeatedly viewed the alert, there was a "dose-dependant" decrease in the fraction of searches without orders. This presumably reflects the alerting strategy's long-term educational component, as clinicians aware of the new policy will not search for CKMB when not indicated. Our analytic approach provides insight into the mechanism of a CPOE alert and demonstrates that alerts may act through a combination of just-in-time advice and longer term education. Use of this approach when implementing alerts may prove useful to improve the success of a given alerting strategy.

Study protocol of an economic evaluation of an extended implementation strategy for the treatment of low back pain in general practice: a cluster randomised controlled trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Jensen, Cathrine Elgaard; Riis, Allan; Pedersen, Kjeld Møller; Jensen, Martin Bach; Petersen, Karin Dam

2014-10-08

In Denmark, guidelines on low back pain management are currently being implemented; in association with this, a clinical trial is conducted. A health economic evaluation is carried out alongside the clinical trial to assess the cost-effectiveness of an extended implementation strategy to increase the general practitioners' adherence to the guidelines. In addition to usual dissemination, the extended implementation strategy is composed of visits from a guideline facilitator, stratification tools, and feedback on guideline adherence. The aim of this paper is to provide the considerations on the design of the health economic evaluation. The economic evaluation is carried out alongside a cluster randomised controlled trial consisting of 60 general practices in the North Denmark Region. An expected 1,200 patients between the age of 18 and 65 years with a low back pain diagnosis will be enrolled. The economic evaluation comprises both a cost-effectiveness analyses and a cost-utility analysis. Effectiveness measures include referral to secondary care, health-related quality of life measured by EQ-5D-5L, and disability measured by the Roland Morris disability questionnaire. Cost measures include all relevant additional costs of the extended implementation strategy compared to usual implementation. The economic evaluation will be performed from both a societal perspective and a health sector perspective with a 12-month time horizon. It is expected that the extended implementation strategy will reduce the number of patients referred to secondary care. It is hypothesised that the additional upfront cost of extended implementation will be counterbalanced by improvements in clinical practice and patient-related outcomes, thereby rendering the extended implementation strategy cost-effective. ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT01699256.

Synthesis and antitumor evaluation of arctigenin derivatives based on antiausterity strategy.

Science.gov (United States)

Kudou, Naoki; Taniguchi, Akira; Sugimoto, Kenji; Matsuya, Yuji; Kawasaki, Masashi; Toyooka, Naoki; Miyoshi, Chika; Awale, Suresh; Dibwe, Dya Fita; Esumi, Hiroyasu; Kadota, Shigetoshi; Tezuka, Yasuhiro

2013-02-01

A series of new (-)-arctigenin derivatives with variably modified O-alkyl groups were synthesized and their preferential cytotoxicity was evaluated against human pancreatic cancer cell line PANC-1 under nutrient-deprived conditions. The results showed that monoethoxy derivative 4i (PC(50), 0.49 μM), diethoxy derivative 4h (PC(50), 0.66 μM), and triethoxy derivative 4m (PC(50), 0.78 μM) showed the preferential cytotoxicities under nutrient-deprived conditions, which were identical to or more potent than (-)-arctigenin (1) (PC(50), 0.80 μM). Among them, we selected the triethoxy derivative 4m and examined its in vivo antitumor activity using a mouse xenograft model. Triethoxy derivative 4m exhibited also in vivo antitumor activity with the potency identical to or slightly more than (-)-arctigenin (1). These results would suggest that a modification of (-)-arctigenin structure could lead to a new drug based on the antiausterity strategy. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Economic Evaluation of Individual School Closure Strategies: The Hong Kong 2009 H1N1 Pandemic.

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Zoie Shui-Yee Wong

Full Text Available School closures as a means of containing the spread of disease have received considerable attention from the public health community. Although they have been implemented during previous pandemics, the epidemiological and economic effects of the closure of individual schools remain unclear.This study used data from the 2009 H1N1 pandemic in Hong Kong to develop a simulation model of an influenza pandemic with a localised population structure to provide scientific justifications for and economic evaluations of individual-level school closure strategies.The estimated cost of the study's baseline scenario was USD330 million. We found that the individual school closure strategies that involved all types of schools and those that used a lower threshold to trigger school closures had the best performance. The best scenario resulted in an 80% decrease in the number of cases (i.e., prevention of about 830,000 cases, and the cost per case prevented by this intervention was USD1,145; thus, the total cost was USD1.28 billion.This study predicts the effects of individual school closure strategies on the 2009 H1N1 pandemic in Hong Kong. Further research could determine optimal strategies that combine various system-wide and district-wide school closures with individual school triggers across types of schools. The effects of different closure triggers at different phases of a pandemic should also be examined.

The implementation of the Strategy Europe 2020 objectives in European Union countries: the concept analysis and statistical evaluation.

Science.gov (United States)

Stec, Małgorzata; Grzebyk, Mariola

2018-01-01

The European Union (EU), striving to create economic dominance on the global market, has prepared a comprehensive development programme, which initially was the Lisbon Strategy and then the Strategy Europe 2020. The attainment of the strategic goals included in the prospective development programmes shall transform the EU into the most competitive economy in the world based on knowledge. This paper presents a statistical evaluation of progress being made by EU member states in meeting Europe 2020. For the basis of the assessment, the authors proposed a general synthetic measure in dynamic terms, which allows to objectively compare EU member states by 10 major statistical indicators. The results indicate that most of EU countries show average progress in realisation of Europe's development programme which may suggest that the goals may not be achieved in the prescribed time. It is particularly important to monitor the implementation of Europe 2020 to arrive at the right decisions which will guarantee the accomplishment of the EU's development strategy.

Evaluating the effect of structural dimensions on the successful implementation of strategies in Payam-e-noor University of Iran

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Hamidreza Shahhosseini

2013-07-01

Full Text Available This study aims to assess the relationship between structural dimensions of organization including centralization, complexity and formalization on one side and strategy effectiveness on the other side. Structural dimensions are determined based on Robbins theory, and each of them is considered as independent variables of research. Strategy effectiveness, which includes achieving strategic goals or successful implementation of strategies are the independent variable of the research, based on Noble’s strategy implementation model. One primary thesis and three secondary these are defined. This is a descriptive research of two variable correlation. The target population includes 600 senior managers of Payam-e-noor university around the country, including staff administrative managers, province and unit headmasters, of Iran at the time of data collection. Simple random sampling is used, with sample size of 120. Library resources are used for theoretical foundation data collection and note-taking. Questionnaires are used to collect data and evaluate research theses. Inferential Statistics and Pearson correlation coefficient are used to analyze the research theses. The first two theses are confirmed, at 95% and 99% respectively, but the third thesis is rejected based on the collected data. Therefore, based on this study, complexity and formalization have respectively inverse and direct effect on strategy effectiveness, but centralization does not affect strategy effectiveness in Payam-e-noor University.

Evaluation of Strategies to Reducing Traction Energy Consumption of Metro Systems Using an Optimal Train Control Simulation Model

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Shuai Su

2016-02-01

Full Text Available Increasing attention is being paid to the energy efficiency in metro systems to reduce the operational cost and to advocate the sustainability of railway systems. Classical research has studied the energy-efficient operational strategy and the energy-efficient system design separately to reduce the traction energy consumption. This paper aims to combine the operational strategies and the system design by analyzing how the infrastructure and vehicle parameters of metro systems influence the operational traction energy consumption. Firstly, a solution approach to the optimal train control model is introduced, which is used to design the Optimal Train Control Simulator(OTCS. Then, based on the OTCS, the performance of some important energy-efficient system design strategies is investigated to reduce the trains’ traction energy consumption, including reduction of the train mass, improvement of the kinematic resistance, the design of the energy-saving gradient, increasing the maximum traction and braking forces, introducing regenerative braking and timetable optimization. As for these energy-efficient strategies, the performances are finally evaluated using the OTCS with the practical operational data of the Beijing Yizhuang metro line. The proposed approach gives an example to quantitatively analyze the energy reduction of different strategies in the system design procedure, which may help the decision makers to have an overview of the energy-efficient performances and then to make decisions by balancing the costs and the benefits.

How to implement Illness Management and Recovery (IMR) in mental health service settings: evaluation of the implementation strategy.

Science.gov (United States)

Egeland, Karina Myhren; Ruud, Torleif; Ogden, Terje; Färdig, Rickard; Lindstrøm, Jonas Christoffer; Heiervang, Kristin Sverdvik

2017-01-01

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the implementation strategy used in the first-phase of implementation of the Illness Management and Recovery (IMR) programme, an intervention for adults with severe mental illnesses, in nine mental health service settings in Norway. A total of 9 clinical leaders, 31 clinicians, and 44 consumers at 9 service settings participated in the implementation of IMR. Implementation was conducted by an external team of researchers and an experienced trainer. Data were gathered on fidelity to the intervention and implementation strategy, feasibility, and consumer outcomes. Although the majority of clinicians scored within the acceptable range of high intervention fidelity, their participation in the implementation strategy appeared to moderate anticipated future use of IMR. No service settings reached high intervention fidelity scores for organizational quality improvement after 12 months of implementation. IMR implementation seemed feasible, albeit with some challenges. Consumer outcomes indicated significant improvements in illness self-management, severity of problems, functioning, and hope. There were nonsignificant positive changes in symptoms and quality of life. The implementation strategy appeared adequate to build clinician competence over time, enabling clinicians to provide treatment that increased functioning and hope for consumers. Additional efficient strategies should be incorporated to facilitate organizational change and thus secure the sustainability of the implemented practice. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02077829. Registered 25 February 2014.

Evaluation of Strategies to Improve the Thermal Performance of Steel Frames in Curtain Wall Systems

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Ji Hyun Oh

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Recently, metal curtain wall systems have been widely used in high-rise buildings due to many advantages, including being lightweight, rapid construction, and aesthetic features. Since the metal frame may lead to lower energy performance, thermal discomfort, and condensation risk due to the high thermal conductivity, its thermal performance can be important for the improvement of the overall thermal performance of the curtain wall system, as well as the energy efficiency of the building envelope. This study aims to evaluate variety of design strategies to improve the thermal performance of steel curtain wall frames. Five base cases and three further steps were selected for two different head profile shapes based on a state-of-the art technology review, and their thermal transmittances were calculated through simulations according to the ISO 12631 standard which is an international standard for calculating thermal transmittance of curtain wall system. Measured results that were obtained from hot-box tests were compared with the calculated results to validate the simulation method of this study. The shape of the head profile did not strongly influence the overall thermal transmittance, and the choice of strategies for the rabbet space was more important. More effective strategies could be decided according to the steps for variation development. This result can serve as a guideline for the design of high-performance curtain wall frames.

Summary: analysis of alternative FBR development strategies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Burnham, J.B.

1981-12-01

This report summarizes the comparative evaluation of alternative strategies for the development of the commercial fast breeder reactor (FBR) in the United States. For planning purposes, a range of possible FBR development paths called strategies were selected for evaluation. These strategies, designed to be technically and economically feasible, were expressed in terms of the timing and nature of facilities/research and development programs required to reach full power operation of the first commercial FBR. Four of the seven strategies resulted in a large (1457 MWe) FBR as an end point, the other three in a 1000-MWe plant. Probability distributions were calculated for total strategy costs and time to completion. For the seven strategies analyzed, the costs (discounted 1980 dollars) ranged from $1.8 billion to $4.9 billion; the completion times ranged from 24 to 55 years

Designing and Evaluating Tutoring Feedback Strategies for Digital Learning Environments on the Basis of the Interactive Tutoring Feedback Model

Science.gov (United States)

Narciss, Susanne

2013-01-01

This paper describes the interactive tutoring feedback model (ITF-model; Narciss, 2006; 2008), and how it can be applied to the design and evaluation of feedback strategies for digital learning environments. The ITF-model conceptualizes formative tutoring feedback as a multidimensional instructional activity that aims at contributing to the…

A Dynamic Model for the Evaluation of Aircraft Engine Icing Detection and Control-Based Mitigation Strategies

Science.gov (United States)

Simon, Donald L.; Rinehart, Aidan W.; Jones, Scott M.

2017-01-01

Aircraft flying in regions of high ice crystal concentrations are susceptible to the buildup of ice within the compression system of their gas turbine engines. This ice buildup can restrict engine airflow and cause an uncommanded loss of thrust, also known as engine rollback, which poses a potential safety hazard. The aviation community is conducting research to understand this phenomena, and to identify avoidance and mitigation strategies to address the concern. To support this research, a dynamic turbofan engine model has been created to enable the development and evaluation of engine icing detection and control-based mitigation strategies. This model captures the dynamic engine response due to high ice water ingestion and the buildup of ice blockage in the engines low pressure compressor. It includes a fuel control system allowing engine closed-loop control effects during engine icing events to be emulated. The model also includes bleed air valve and horsepower extraction actuators that, when modulated, change overall engine operating performance. This system-level model has been developed and compared against test data acquired from an aircraft turbofan engine undergoing engine icing studies in an altitude test facility and also against outputs from the manufacturers customer deck. This paper will describe the model and show results of its dynamic response under open-loop and closed-loop control operating scenarios in the presence of ice blockage buildup compared against engine test cell data. Planned follow-on use of the model for the development and evaluation of icing detection and control-based mitigation strategies will also be discussed. The intent is to combine the model and control mitigation logic with an engine icing risk calculation tool capable of predicting the risk of engine icing based on current operating conditions. Upon detection of an operating region of risk for engine icing events, the control mitigation logic will seek to change the

How do the Japanese medical students evaluate the effectiveness of anti-smoking strategies?- an application of the Analytic Hierarchy Process.

Science.gov (United States)

Matsuda, S; Washino, K

1998-07-01

In order to establish the effective strategies to reduce the smoking prevalence among teenagers in Japan, the author evaluated opinions of the 30 male medical students with smoking habit by the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method. In the AHP model, the six factors are considered to be important for the onset of teenagers smoking; smoking habit of peers, smoking habit of family members, tobacco advertising, convenience to buy cigarettes, social acceptance of smoking and knowledge of harmful effects of smoking, and the five strategies are proposed; tobacco advertising ban, higher pricing of tobacco, promotion of antismoking education, regulation on tobacco sales, and regulation on smoking area. According to the medical students' perspective, the strategy of "higher pricing of tobacco" was considered to be the most effective strategy to reduce the smoking incidence of the teenagers, followed by "regulation on tobacco sales", "promotion of anti-smoking education", "regulation on smoking area", and "tobacco advertising ban"

Evaluating the combined effectiveness of influenza control strategies and human preventive behavior.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Liang Mao

Full Text Available Control strategies enforced by health agencies are a major type of practice to contain influenza outbreaks. Another type of practice is the voluntary preventive behavior of individuals, such as receiving vaccination, taking antiviral drugs, and wearing face masks. These two types of practices take effects concurrently in influenza containment, but little attention has been paid to their combined effectiveness. This article estimates this combined effectiveness using established simulation models in the urbanized area of Buffalo, NY, USA. Three control strategies are investigated, including: Targeted Antiviral Prophylaxis (TAP, workplace/school closure, community travel restriction, as well as the combination of the three. All control strategies are simulated with and without regard to individual preventive behavior, and the resulting effectiveness are compared. The simulation outcomes suggest that weaker control strategies could suffice to contain influenza epidemics, because individuals voluntarily adopt preventive behavior, rendering these weaker strategies more effective than would otherwise have been expected. The preventive behavior of individuals could save medical resources for control strategies and avoid unnecessary socio-economic interruptions. This research adds a human behavioral dimension into the simulation of control strategies and offers new insights into disease containment. Health policy makers are recommended to review current control strategies and comprehend preventive behavior patterns of local populations before making decisions on influenza containment.

Perceptual evaluation of backchannel strategies for artificial listeners

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Poppe, Ronald Walter; Truong, Khiet Phuong; Heylen, Dirk K.J.

Artificial listeners are virtual agents that can listen attentively to a human speaker in a dialog. In this paper, we present two experiments where we investigate the perception of rule-based backchannel strategies for artificial listeners. In both, we collect subjective judgements of humans who

Taxonomy for Evaluation of Distributed Control Strategies for Distributed Energy Resources

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Han, Xue; Heussen, Kai; Gehrke, Oliver

2017-01-01

Distributed control strategies applied to power distribution control problems are meant to offer robust and scalable integration of distributed energy resources (DER). However, the term “distributed control” is often loosely applied to a variety of very different control strategies. In particular....... For such comparison, a classification is required that is consistent across the different aspects mentioned above. This paper develops systematic categories of control strategies that accounts for communication, control and physical distribution aspects of the problem, and provides a set of criteria that can...

Evaluation of freshwater mussel relocation as a conservation and management strategy

Science.gov (United States)

Cope, W. Gregory; Waller, Diane L.

1995-01-01

The relocation of unionacean mussels is commonly used as a conservation and management tool in large rivers and streams. Relocation has been used to recolonize areas where mussel populations have been eliminated by prior pollution events, to remove mussels from construction zones and to re-establish populations of endangered species. More recently, relocation has been used to protect native freshwater mussels from colonization by the exotic zebra mussel Dreissena polymorpha. We conducted a literature review of mussel relocations and evaluated their relative success as a conservation and management strategy. We found that 43% of all relocations were conducted because of construction projects that were forced to comply with the Endangered Species Act 1973 and that only 16% were monitored for five or more consecutive years. Most (43%) relocation projects were conducted from July to September, presumably a period when reproductive stress is relatively low for most species and the metabolic rate is sufficient for reburrowing in the substrate. The mortality of relocated mussels was unreported in 27% of projects; reported mortality varied widely among projects and species and was difficult to assess. The mean mortality of relocated mussels was 49% based on an average recovery rate of 43%. There is little guidance on the methods for relocation or for monitoring the subsequent long-term status of relocated mussels. Based on this evaluation, research is needed to develop criteria for selecting a suitable relocation site and to establish appropriate methods and guidelines for conducting relocation projects.

Evaluation of stormwater micropollutant source control and end-of-pipe control strategies using an uncertainty-calibrated integrated dynamic simulation model

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Vezzaro, Luca; Sharma, Anitha Kumari; Ledin, Anna

2015-01-01

(copper, zinc) and organic compounds (fluoranthene). MP fluxes were estimated by using an integrated dynamic model, in combination with stormwater quality measurements. MP sources were identified by using GIS land usage data, runoff quality was simulated by using a conceptual accumulation/washoff model......The estimation of micropollutant (MP) fluxes in stormwater systems is a fundamental prerequisite when preparing strategies to reduce stormwater MP discharges to natural waters. Dynamic integrated models can be important tools in this step, as they can be used to integrate the limited data provided...... by monitoring campaigns and to evaluate the performance of different strategies based on model simulation results. This study presents an example where six different control strategies, including both source-control and end-of-pipe treatment, were compared. The comparison focused on fluxes of heavy metals...

Contribution analysis as an evaluation strategy in the context of a sector-wide approach: Performance-based health financing in Rwanda

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Martin Noltze

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Sector-wide approaches (SWAps emerged as a response to donor fragmentation and non-adjusted and parallel programming. In the health sector, SWAps have received considerable support by the international donor community due to their potential to reduce inefficiencies through alignment to common procedures and hence to increase development effectiveness. Evaluating development cooperation in the context of a SWAp, however, translates into methodological challenges for evaluators who have to disentangle the cumulative effects in strongly donor-aligned, complex sector environments. In this article the authors discussed the application of a methodological strategy for evaluating development interventions in complex settings – for example in the context of a SWAp –and reflected the suitability of the approach. The authors conducted a contribution analysis, a theory-based approach to evaluation, and exemplified the approach for an intervention of performance-based financing for Rwandan health workers supported by the Rwanda-German cooperation. The findings suggested that the Rwandan system of performance based financing increased service orientation and outputs of health professionals, but also indicated that negative motivational side effects and resource constraints are real. With regard to the methodological approach, the authors conclude that contribution analysis has a high potential to evaluate development cooperation in the context of a SWAp dueto its high flexibility to use different data collection tools and its capability to assess risks and rival explanations. Challenges can be identified with regard to the efficiency of the evaluation strategy and a remaining trade-off between scope and causal strength ofevidence.

Evaluation of a decision support strategy for the control of powdery mildew, Erysiphe necator (Schw.) Burr., in grapevine in the central region of Chile.

Science.gov (United States)

Valdés-Gómez, Héctor; Araya-Alman, Miguel; Pañitrur-De la Fuente, Carolina; Verdugo-Vásquez, Nicolás; Lolas, Mauricio; Acevedo-Opazo, César; Gary, Christian; Calonnec, Agnès

2017-09-01

The primary strategy to control powdery mildew in Chilean vineyards involves periodic fungicide spraying, which may lead to many environmental and human health risks. This study aimed to implement and evaluate the effectiveness and economic feasibility of a novel decision support strategy (DSS) to limit the number of treatments against this pathogen. An experiment was conducted between the 2010 and 2013 seasons in two irrigated vine fields, one containing a cultivar of Cabernet Sauvignon (CS) and the other a cultivar of Chardonnay (CH). The results showed that the DSS effectively controlled powdery mildew in CS and CH vine fields, as evidenced by a disease severity lower than 3%, which was lower than that observed in untreated vines (approximately 10 and 40% for CS and CH respectively). The DS strategy required the application of only 2-3 fungicide treatments per season in key vine phenological stages, and the cost fluctuated between $US 322 and 415 ha -1 , which was 40-60% cheaper than the traditional strategy employed by vine growers. The decision support strategy evaluated in this trial allows a good control of powdery mildew for various types of epidemic with an early and late initiation. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.

A Small Taste of Big Data: Strategies for Evaluating Reach, Impact, and Outcomes of Starchitect on Facebook

Science.gov (United States)

Harold, J. B.

2015-12-01

Starchitect (www.starchitect.net) is an online stellar and planetary evolution game developed for Facebook (though it can be played outside of Facebook as well). Funded through NASA and NSF, Starchitect was designed in part to explore the educational potential of a specific type of game design, in which players may only spend a few minutes with the game in a given sitting, but must come back repeatedly over days or weeks to make real progress. The intent was to determine if we could engage players and keep them "minds on" for longer periods of time, enhancing the educational value of the game. However this design leads to a variety of challenges and opportunities for the evaluation program. Players cannot easily be asked to "play through" the game while under observation, because the game is designed to be played over long periods. Even recruiting test players can be a challenge, since this particular game framework doesn't appeal to everyone, and we need players to stay engaged long enough to have a meaningful experience. On the other hand, the game itself collects large amounts of data automatically, and can be strategically designed to collect even more. N in this case is very large (in excess of 11,000 players to date), and Facebook enhances the data by providing information about players that is not generally available to online activities (e.g., gender and age). All told this provides us with an intriguing double edged sword: challenges for traditional, in-person evaluation strategies, combined with new opportunities for online recruitment and automated data collection. This paper will discuss the strategies we've used to evaluate the project, including interviews, online surveys dynamically triggered by the game, targeted Facebook advertising, game data evaluation, embedded pre/post quizzes, and more.

Competency champions in the clinical competency committee: a successful strategy to implement milestone evaluations and competency coaching.

Science.gov (United States)

Ketteler, Erika R; Auyang, Edward D; Beard, Kathy E; McBride, Erica L; McKee, Rohini; Russell, John C; Szoka, Nova L; Nelson, M Timothy

2014-01-01

To create a clinical competency committee (CCC) that (1) centers on the competency-based milestones, (2) is simple to implement, (3) creates competency expertise, and (4) guides remediation and coaching of residents who are not progressing in milestone performance evaluations. We created a CCC that meets monthly and at each meeting reviews a resident class for milestone performance, a competency (by a faculty competency champion), a resident rotation service, and any other resident or issue of concern. University surgical residency program. The CCC members include the program director, associate program directors, director of surgical curriculum, competency champions, departmental chair, 2 at-large faculty members, and the administrative chief residents. Seven residents were placed on remediation (later renamed as coaching) during the academic year after falling behind on milestone progression in one or more competencies. An additional 4 residents voluntarily placed themselves on remediation for medical knowledge after receiving in-training examination scores that the residents (not the CCC membership) considered substandard. All but 2 of the remediated/coached residents successfully completed all area milestone performance but some chose to stay on the medical knowledge competency strategy. Monthly meetings of the CCC make milestone evaluation less burdensome. In addition, the expectations of the residents are clearer and more tangible. "Competency champions" who are familiar with the milestones allow effective coaching strategies and documentation of clear performance improvements in competencies for successful completion of residency training. Residents who do not reach appropriate milestone performance can then be placed in remediation for more formal performance evaluation. The function of our CCC has also allowed us opportunity to evaluate the required rotations to ensure that they offer experiences that help residents achieve competency performance necessary

Pilot-scale cooling tower to evaluate corrosion, scaling, and biofouling control strategies for cooling system makeup water.

Science.gov (United States)

Chien, S H; Hsieh, M K; Li, H; Monnell, J; Dzombak, D; Vidic, R

2012-02-01

Pilot-scale cooling towers can be used to evaluate corrosion, scaling, and biofouling control strategies when using particular cooling system makeup water and particular operating conditions. To study the potential for using a number of different impaired waters as makeup water, a pilot-scale system capable of generating 27,000 kJ∕h heat load and maintaining recirculating water flow with a Reynolds number of 1.92 × 10(4) was designed to study these critical processes under conditions that are similar to full-scale systems. The pilot-scale cooling tower was equipped with an automatic makeup water control system, automatic blowdown control system, semi-automatic biocide feeding system, and corrosion, scaling, and biofouling monitoring systems. Observed operational data revealed that the major operating parameters, including temperature change (6.6 °C), cycles of concentration (N = 4.6), water flow velocity (0.66 m∕s), and air mass velocity (3660 kg∕h m(2)), were controlled quite well for an extended period of time (up to 2 months). Overall, the performance of the pilot-scale cooling towers using treated municipal wastewater was shown to be suitable to study critical processes (corrosion, scaling, biofouling) and evaluate cooling water management strategies for makeup waters of complex quality.

Model for evaluating nuclear strategies with proliferation resistance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shay, M.R.; Hardie, R.W.; Omberg, R.P.

1979-03-01

A model was developed at HEDL to specifically analyze proliferation resistant strategies. The model was not designed to predict the future, but rather to provide a method for estimating the consequences of decisions affecting proliferation resistance in a rational and plausible manner. The characteristics of the model are described

Marketingová strategie VOYO.cz

OpenAIRE

Novotná, Markéta

2012-01-01

The aim of the diploma thesis is to analyse and evaluate the marketing strategy of VOYO.cz and recommend improvements of the current strategy. Theoretical part is divided into three chapters. The first chapter deals with the basic concept of marketing and the definition of marketing process. Second chapter defines the process of marketing planning and the third chapter offers basic theoretical approaches for the formulation of product, pricing, promotional and distribution strategy, which are...

Dosimetric evaluation of three adaptive strategies for prostate cancer treatment including pelvic lymph nodes irradiation.

Science.gov (United States)

Cantin, Audrey; Gingras, Luc; Lachance, Bernard; Foster, William; Goudreault, Julie; Archambault, Louis

2015-12-01

The movements of the prostate relative to the pelvic lymph nodes during intensity-modulated radiation therapy treatment can limit margin reduction and affect the protection of the organs at risk (OAR). In this study, the authors performed an analysis of three adaptive treatment strategies that combine information from both bony and gold marker registrations. The robustness of those treatments against the interfraction prostate movements was evaluated. A retrospective study was conducted on five prostate cancer patients with 7-13 daily cone-beam CTs (CBCTs). The clinical target volumes (CTVs) consisting of pelvic lymph nodes, prostate, and seminal vesicles as well as the OARs were delineated on each CBCT and the initial CT. Three adaptive strategies were analyzed. Two of these methods relied on a two-step patient positioning at each fraction. First step: a bony registration was used to deliver the nodal CTV prescription. Second step: a gold marker registration was then used either to (1) complete the dose delivered to the prostate (complement); (2) or give almost the entire prescription to the prostate with a weak dose gradient between the targets to compensate for possible motions (gradient). The third method (COR) used a pool of precalculated plans based on images acquired at previous treatment fractions. At each new fraction, a plan is selected from that pool based on the daily position of prostate center-of-mass. The dosimetric comparison was conducted and results are presented with and without the systematic shift in the prostate position on the CT planning. The adaptive strategies were compared to the current clinical standard where all fractions are treated with the initial nonadaptive plan. The minimum daily prostate D95% is improved by 2%, 9%, and 6% for the complement, the gradient, and the COR approaches, respectively, compared to the nonadaptive method. The average nodal CTV D95% remains constant across the strategies, except for the gradient approach

Dosimetric evaluation of three adaptive strategies for prostate cancer treatment including pelvic lymph nodes irradiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cantin, Audrey; Gingras, Luc; Archambault, Louis; Lachance, Bernard; Foster, William; Goudreault, Julie

2015-01-01

Purpose: The movements of the prostate relative to the pelvic lymph nodes during intensity-modulated radiation therapy treatment can limit margin reduction and affect the protection of the organs at risk (OAR). In this study, the authors performed an analysis of three adaptive treatment strategies that combine information from both bony and gold marker registrations. The robustness of those treatments against the interfraction prostate movements was evaluated. Methods: A retrospective study was conducted on five prostate cancer patients with 7–13 daily cone-beam CTs (CBCTs). The clinical target volumes (CTVs) consisting of pelvic lymph nodes, prostate, and seminal vesicles as well as the OARs were delineated on each CBCT and the initial CT. Three adaptive strategies were analyzed. Two of these methods relied on a two-step patient positioning at each fraction. First step: a bony registration was used to deliver the nodal CTV prescription. Second step: a gold marker registration was then used either to (1) complete the dose delivered to the prostate (complement); (2) or give almost the entire prescription to the prostate with a weak dose gradient between the targets to compensate for possible motions (gradient). The third method (COR) used a pool of precalculated plans based on images acquired at previous treatment fractions. At each new fraction, a plan is selected from that pool based on the daily position of prostate center-of-mass. The dosimetric comparison was conducted and results are presented with and without the systematic shift in the prostate position on the CT planning. The adaptive strategies were compared to the current clinical standard where all fractions are treated with the initial nonadaptive plan. Results: The minimum daily prostate D 95% is improved by 2%, 9%, and 6% for the complement, the gradient, and the COR approaches, respectively, compared to the nonadaptive method. The average nodal CTV D 95% remains constant across the strategies

Evaluation of a cavity flooding strategy for the prevention of reactor vessel failure in a severe accident

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Park, Rae Joon; Je, Moo Sung; Park, Chang Kyoo [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, TaeJon (Korea, Republic of)

1994-10-01

As a part of the evaluation of accident management strategies for severe accident prevention or mitigation in a station blackout scenario for YGN 3 and 4, an external vessel cooling strategy for the prevention of reactor vessel failure has been estimated using the MAAP4 computer code. The sensitivity studies have been performed such as actuating timings and the number of spray pumps used. To explore external vessel cooling strategies, containment spray pumps were actuated by varying time spanning core uncovery, core melting and relocation of molten core material. It was shown that flooding of the reactor cavity using the containment spray system may prevent reactor vessel failure but may not prevent the failure of the relocation of molten core material during the station blackout sequence of YGN 3 and 4. Reactor vessel failure can be prevented by external vessel cooling using condensed water from the operation of two containment spray pumps at the time of core melting and using water from the operation of one containment spray pumps at the time of core melting and using water from the operation of one containment spray pump at the time of core uncovery. (Author) 46 refs., 26 figs., 5 tabs.

Can pictures promote the acquisition of sight-word reading? An evaluation of two potential instructional strategies.

Science.gov (United States)

Richardson, Amy R; Lerman, Dorothea C; Nissen, Melissa A; Luck, Kally M; Neal, Ashley E; Bao, Shimin; Tsami, Loukia

2017-01-01

Sight-word instruction can be a useful supplement to phonics-based methods under some circumstances. Nonetheless, few studies have evaluated the conditions under which pictures may be used successfully to teach sight-word reading. In this study, we extended prior research by examining two potential strategies for reducing the effects of overshadowing when using picture prompts. Five children with developmental disabilities and two typically developing children participated. In the first experiment, the therapist embedded sight words within pictures but gradually faded in the pictures as needed using a least-to-most prompting hierarchy. In the second experiment, the therapist embedded text-to-picture matching within the sight-word reading sessions. Results suggested that these strategies reduced the interference typically observed with picture prompts and enhanced performance during teaching sessions for the majority of participants. Text-to-picture matching also accelerated mastery of the sight words relative to a condition under which the therapist presented text without pictures. © 2016 Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior.

A pilot study to evaluate an efficient testing strategy for surveillance ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Introduction: Control strategies for schistosomiasis depend on the understanding of the population specific magnitude of the infection. We present pilot results of a testing strategy suggested by theoretical statistical investigation that lowers cost yet retains similar accuracy profile as the standard Kato-Katz technique.

Primary Frequency Regulation with Li-Ion Battery Energy Storage System - Evaluation and Comparison of Different Control Strategies

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Thorbergsson, Egill; Knap, Vaclav; Swierczynski, Maciej Jozef

2013-01-01

devices is becoming more attractive, the aim of this paper is to analyse the viability of providing primary frequency regulation with Lithium-ion based energy storage systems. Three control strategies of the energy storage system are analysed and compared in terms of economic benefits on the Danish energy...... market. The revenues and degradation of the Lithium-ion batteries are obtained by simulations. Furthermore, an energy management strategy based on variable state-of-charge (SOC) set-point is evaluated. Preliminary, the influence of different state-of-charge levels on the cycle lifetime is estimated......The increased grid penetration levels of renewable sources are at the expense of the conventional power plants. This means that the grid support functions, traditionally achieved by the conventional power plants, need to be provided by new technologies. Since grid support with energy storage...

Cloud computing strategies

CERN Document Server

Chorafas, Dimitris N

2011-01-01

A guide to managing cloud projects, Cloud Computing Strategies provides the understanding required to evaluate the technology and determine how it can be best applied to improve business and enhance your overall corporate strategy. Based on extensive research, it examines the opportunities and challenges that loom in the cloud. It explains exactly what cloud computing is, what it has to offer, and calls attention to the important issues management needs to consider before passing the point of no return regarding financial commitments.

Designing and Evaluating Tutoring Feedback Strategies for digital learning environments on the basis of the Interactive Tutoring Feedback Model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Susanne Narciss

2013-06-01

Full Text Available This paper describes the interactive tutoring feedback model (ITF-model; Narciss, 2006; 2008, and how it can be applied to the design and evaluation of feedback strategies for digital learning environments. The ITF-model conceptualizes formative tutoring feedback as a multidimensional instructional activity that aims at contributing to the regulation of a learning process in order to help learners acquire or improve the competencies needed to master learning tasks. It integrates findings from systems theory with recommendations of prior research on interactive instruction and elaborated feedback, on task analyses, on error analyses, and on tutoring techniques. Based on this multi-dimensional view of formative tutoring feedback methodological implications for designing and investigating multiple effects of feedback under multiple individual and situational conditions are described. Furthermore, the paper outlines how the implications of the ITF-model have been applied in several studies to the design and evaluation of tutoring feedback strategies for digital learning environments (e.g., Narciss, 2004; Narciss & Huth, 2006; Narciss, Schnaubert, Andres, Eichelmann, Goguadze, & Sosnovsky, 2013.

Study protocol of an economic evaluation of an enhanced implementation strategy for the treatment of low back pain in general practice

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Cathrine; Riis, Allan; Pedersen, Kjeld Møller

2014-01-01

on the design of the health economic evaluation. Methods/design: The economic evaluation is carried out alongside a cluster randomised controlled trial consisting of 60 general practices in the North Denmark Region. An expected 1,200 patients between the age of 18 and 65 years with a low back pain diagnosis...... include all relevant additional costs of the extended implementation strategy compared to usual implementation. The economic evaluation will be performed from both a societal perspective and a health sector perspective with a 12-month time horizon. Discussion: It is expected that the extended...

Solar shading control strategy for office buildings in cold climate

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Røseth Karlsen, Line; Heiselberg, Per Kvols; Bryn, Ida

2016-01-01

Highlights •Solar shading control strategy for office buildings in cold climate is developed. •Satisfying energy and indoor environmental performance is confirmed. •Importance of integrated evaluations when selecting shading strategy is illustrated.......Highlights •Solar shading control strategy for office buildings in cold climate is developed. •Satisfying energy and indoor environmental performance is confirmed. •Importance of integrated evaluations when selecting shading strategy is illustrated....

Implementing marketing strategy (Part four).

Science.gov (United States)

Dodson, D C; Dotson, M; McIlwain, T F; Young, D

1993-01-01

Every organization must monitor and evaluate the performance of its marketing strategies. The health care marketer must continually develop effective measures related to outcomes so that marketing efforts can be justified and garnish the support and resources they deserve. A major task for the marketing executive for the next decade is to develop marketing strategies and prove that those strategies are being met and that they help the health care organization carry out its objective to meet its mission.

Online marketingová strategie Grandhotelu Pupp

OpenAIRE

Fuxová, Zuzana

2014-01-01

The thesis analyses and evaluates a marketing strategy of the Grandhotel Pupp in comparison with its direct competitor, the Ambassador Grandhotel Narodni dum. The thesis focuses mainly on evaluating the online atributes of the marketing strategy including the online presentation of the hotel on all distribution channels the hotel uses. The main emphasis is put on current trends, because in marketing, these play the crucial role. First part of the thesis defines accommodation services, hospita...

Marketing the 'Sex Check': evaluating recruitment strategies for a telephone-based HIV prevention project for gay and bisexual men.

Science.gov (United States)

McKee, Michael B; Picciano, Joseph F; Roffman, Roger A; Swanson, Fred; Kalichman, Seth C

2006-04-01

Designing effective marketing and recruitment strategies for HIV prevention research requires attention to cultural relevance, logistical barriers, and perceived psychosocial barriers to accessing services. McGuire's communication/persuasion matrix (1985) guided our evaluation, with particular attention to success of each marketing "channel" (i.e., strategy) vis-à-vis the number of all callers, eligible callers, and enrolled callers, as well as reaching so-called "hard-to-serve" individuals. Nearly all channels offered success in reaching specific subgroups. Latinos responded favorably to posters, bisexuals responded favorably to paid media in an alternative (non-gay) publication, and precontemplators responded to referrals by family and friends. Although multiple recruitment strategies were used, three were crucial to the success of the project: (a) recruiters' presence in gay venues, (b) referrals by family and friends (snowball technique), and (c) paid advertisements in alternative (non-gay) local newspapers. Resource allocation and costs are also presented for each channel.

Evaluation of an accident management strategy of emergency water injection using fire engines in a typical pressurized water reactor

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Soo-Yong Park

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Following the Fukushima accident, a special safety inspection was conducted in Korea. The inspection results show that Korean nuclear power plants have no imminent risk for expected maximum potential earthquake or coastal flooding. However long- and short-term safety improvements do need to be implemented. One of the measures to increase the mitigation capability during a prolonged station blackout (SBO accident is installing injection flow paths to provide emergency cooling water of external sources using fire engines to the steam generators or reactor cooling systems. This paper illustrates an evaluation of the effectiveness of external cooling water injection strategies using fire trucks during a potential extended SBO accident in a 1,000 MWe pressurized water reactor. With regard to the effectiveness of external cooling water injection strategies using fire engines, the strategies are judged to be very feasible for a long-term SBO, but are not likely to be effective for a short-term SBO.

Evaluation of an accident management strategy of emergency water injection using fire engines in a typical pressurized water reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Park, Soo Yong; Ahn, Kwang Il

2015-01-01

Following the Fukushima accident, a special safety inspection was conducted in Korea. The inspection results show that Korean nuclear power plants have no imminent risk for expected maximum potential earthquake or coastal flooding. However long- and short-term safety improvements do need to be implemented. One of the measures to increase the mitigation capability during a prolonged station blackout (SBO) accident is installing injection flow paths to provide emergency cooling water of external sources using fire engines to the steam generators or reactor cooling systems. This paper illustrates an evaluation of the effectiveness of external cooling water injection strategies using fire trucks during a potential extended SBO accident in a 1,000 MWe pressurized water reactor. With regard to the effectiveness of external cooling water injection strategies using fire engines, the strategies are judged to be very feasible for a long-term SBO, but are not likely to be effective for a short-term SBO

Evaluation of an accident management strategy of emergency water injection using fire engines in a typical pressurized water reactor

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Park, Soo Yong; Ahn, Kwang Il [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2015-10-15

Following the Fukushima accident, a special safety inspection was conducted in Korea. The inspection results show that Korean nuclear power plants have no imminent risk for expected maximum potential earthquake or coastal flooding. However long- and short-term safety improvements do need to be implemented. One of the measures to increase the mitigation capability during a prolonged station blackout (SBO) accident is installing injection flow paths to provide emergency cooling water of external sources using fire engines to the steam generators or reactor cooling systems. This paper illustrates an evaluation of the effectiveness of external cooling water injection strategies using fire trucks during a potential extended SBO accident in a 1,000 MWe pressurized water reactor. With regard to the effectiveness of external cooling water injection strategies using fire engines, the strategies are judged to be very feasible for a long-term SBO, but are not likely to be effective for a short-term SBO.

Evaluating a policing strategy intended to disrupt an illicit street-level drug market.

Science.gov (United States)

Corsaro, Nicholas; Brunson, Rod K; McGarrell, Edmund F

2010-12-01

The authors examined a strategic policing initiative that was implemented in a high crime Nashville, Tennessee neighborhood by utilizing a mixed-methodological evaluation approach in order to provide (a) a descriptive process assessment of program fidelity; (b) an interrupted time-series analysis relying upon generalized linear models; (c) in-depth resident interviews. Results revealed that the initiative corresponded with a statistically significant reduction in drug and narcotics incidents as well as perceived changes in neighborhood disorder within the target community. There was less-clear evidence, however, of a significant impact on other outcomes examined. The implications that an intensive crime prevention strategy corresponded with a reduction in specific forms of neighborhood crime illustrates the complex considerations that law enforcement officials face when deciding to implement this type of crime prevention initiative.

Socioeconomic evaluation of broad-scale land management strategies.

Science.gov (United States)

Lisa K. Crone; Richard W. Haynes

2001-01-01

This paper examines the socioeconomic effects of alternative management strategies for Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management lands in the interior Columbia basin. From a broad-scale perspective, there is little impact or variation between alternatives in terms of changes in total economic activity or social conditions in the region. However, adopting a finer...

Database Objects vs Files: Evaluation of alternative strategies for managing large remote sensing data

Science.gov (United States)

Baru, Chaitan; Nandigam, Viswanath; Krishnan, Sriram

2010-05-01

Increasingly, the geoscience user community expects modern IT capabilities to be available in service of their research and education activities, including the ability to easily access and process large remote sensing datasets via online portals such as GEON (www.geongrid.org) and OpenTopography (opentopography.org). However, serving such datasets via online data portals presents a number of challenges. In this talk, we will evaluate the pros and cons of alternative storage strategies for management and processing of such datasets using binary large object implementations (BLOBs) in database systems versus implementation in Hadoop files using the Hadoop Distributed File System (HDFS). The storage and I/O requirements for providing online access to large datasets dictate the need for declustering data across multiple disks, for capacity as well as bandwidth and response time performance. This requires partitioning larger files into a set of smaller files, and is accompanied by the concomitant requirement for managing large numbers of file. Storing these sub-files as blobs in a shared-nothing database implemented across a cluster provides the advantage that all the distributed storage management is done by the DBMS. Furthermore, subsetting and processing routines can be implemented as user-defined functions (UDFs) on these blobs and would run in parallel across the set of nodes in the cluster. On the other hand, there are both storage overheads and constraints, and software licensing dependencies created by such an implementation. Another approach is to store the files in an external filesystem with pointers to them from within database tables. The filesystem may be a regular UNIX filesystem, a parallel filesystem, or HDFS. In the HDFS case, HDFS would provide the file management capability, while the subsetting and processing routines would be implemented as Hadoop programs using the MapReduce model. Hadoop and its related software libraries are freely available

Eksperimental evaluation of efficacy of the strategies for the persuasion resistance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Žeželj Iris

2006-01-01

Full Text Available The present research took an experimental approach to examining strategies of resistance to persuasion. We tested the effects of two strategies (counterarguing and source derogation and their relation to channel through which a message is received (print, audio and video. The experiment is based on modified experimental paradigm used in one previous research (Cameron et al, 2002 in order to retest their findings and examine the role of communication modality in inoculation. Persuasive message generated statistically significant effects- attitude towards abortion was significantly changed. Both resistance strategies, on the other hand, failed to elicit resistance and measured attitude change wasn't significantly related to communication channel.

Development and evaluation of a youth mental health community awareness campaign – The Compass Strategy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Harris Meredith G

2006-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Early detection and treatment of mental disorders in adolescents and young adults can lead to better health outcomes. Mental health literacy is a key to early recognition and help seeking. Whilst a number of population health initiatives have attempted to improve mental health literacy, none to date have specifically targeted young people nor have they applied the rigorous standards of population health models now accepted as best practice in other health areas. This paper describes the outcomes from the application of a health promotion model to the development, implementation and evaluation of a community awareness campaign designed to improve mental health literacy and early help seeking amongst young people. Method The Compass Strategy was implemented in the western metropolitan Melbourne and Barwon regions of Victoria, Australia. The Precede-Proceed Model guided the population assessment, campaign strategy development and evaluation. The campaign included the use of multimedia, a website, and an information telephone service. Multiple levels of evaluation were conducted. This included a cross-sectional telephone survey of mental health literacy undertaken before and after 14 months of the campaign using a quasi-experimental design. Randomly selected independent samples of 600 young people aged 12–25 years from the experimental region and another 600 from a comparison region were interviewed at each time point. A series of binary logistic regression analyses were used to measure the association between a range of campaign outcome variables and the predictor variables of region and time. Results The program was judged to have an impact on the following variables, as indicated by significant region-by-time interaction effects (p Conclusion We believe this is the first study to apply the rigorous standards of a health promotion model including the use of a control region to a mental health population intervention. The

Evaluation of five strategies to limit the impact of fouling in permeable reactive barriers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li Lin; Benson, Craig H.

2010-01-01

Ground water flow and geochemical reactive transport models were used to assess the effectiveness of five strategies used to limit fouling and to enhance the long-term hydraulic behavior of continuous-wall permeable reactive barriers (PRBs) employing granular zero valent iron (ZVI). The flow model accounted for geological heterogeneity and the reactive transport model included a geochemical algorithm for simulating iron corrosion and mineral precipitation reactions that have been observed in ZVI PRBs. The five strategies that were evaluated are pea gravel equalization zones, a sacrificial pre-treatment zone, pH adjustment, large ZVI particles, and mechanical treatment. Results of simulations show that installation of pea gravel equalization zones results in flow equalization and a more uniform distribution of residence times within the PRB. Residence times within the PRB are less affected by mineral precipitation when a pre-treatment zone is employed. pH adjustment limits the total amount of hydroxide ions in ground water to reduce porosity reduction and to retain larger residence times. Larger ZVI particles reduce porosity reduction as a result of the smaller iron surface area for iron corrosion, and retain longer residence time. Mechanical treatment redistributes the porosity uniformly throughout the PRB over time, which is effective in maintaining residence time.

Influence of signal processing strategy in auditory abilities.

Science.gov (United States)

Melo, Tatiana Mendes de; Bevilacqua, Maria Cecília; Costa, Orozimbo Alves; Moret, Adriane Lima Mortari

2013-01-01

The signal processing strategy is a parameter that may influence the auditory performance of cochlear implant and is important to optimize this parameter to provide better speech perception, especially in difficult listening situations. To evaluate the individual's auditory performance using two different signal processing strategy. Prospective study with 11 prelingually deafened children with open-set speech recognition. A within-subjects design was used to compare performance with standard HiRes and HiRes 120 in three different moments. During test sessions, subject's performance was evaluated by warble-tone sound-field thresholds, speech perception evaluation, in quiet and in noise. In the silence, children S1, S4, S5, S7 showed better performance with the HiRes 120 strategy and children S2, S9, S11 showed better performance with the HiRes strategy. In the noise was also observed that some children performed better using the HiRes 120 strategy and other with HiRes. Not all children presented the same pattern of response to the different strategies used in this study, which reinforces the need to look at optimizing cochlear implant clinical programming.

Model-Based Evaluation of Strategies to Control Brucellosis in China.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Ming-Tao; Sun, Gui-Quan; Zhang, Wen-Yi; Jin, Zhen

2017-03-12

Brucellosis, the most common zoonotic disease worldwide, represents a great threat to animal husbandry with the potential to cause enormous economic losses. Brucellosis has become a major public health problem in China, and the number of human brucellosis cases has increased dramatically in recent years. In order to evaluate different intervention strategies to curb brucellosis transmission in China, a novel mathematical model with a general indirect transmission incidence rate was presented. By comparing the results of three models using national human disease data and 11 provinces with high case numbers, the best fitted model with standard incidence was used to investigate the potential for future outbreaks. Estimated basic reproduction numbers were highly heterogeneous, varying widely among provinces. The local basic reproduction numbers of provinces with an obvious increase in incidence were much larger than the average for the country as a whole, suggesting that environment-to-individual transmission was more common than individual-to-individual transmission. We concluded that brucellosis can be controlled through increasing animal vaccination rates, environment disinfection frequency, or elimination rates of infected animals. Our finding suggests that a combination of animal vaccination, environment disinfection, and elimination of infected animals will be necessary to ensure cost-effective control for brucellosis.

Evaluation of strategies for promoting effective radon mitigation. Risk communication and economic research series. Final report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Doyle, J.K.; McClelland, G.H.; Schulze, W.D.; Locke, P.A.; Elliott, S.R.

1990-03-01

The Environmental Protection Agency has estimated that as many as 20,000 lung cancer deaths per year in the United States can be attributed to exposure to radon gas. The report evaluates alternative strategies for motivating people to test for radon gas in their homes and to mitigate if necessary. Specifically, two separate radon information and awareness programs were evaluated, one targeted to the general population in the Washington, D.C. area and the other to home buyers in the Boulder, Colorado area. The results suggest that a home buyer program is likely to be far more effective in terms of effective remediation to reduce home radon levels than a program aimed at the general population. The report discusses the empirical findings and develops a recommendation for increasing the effectiveness of radon awareness and mitigation programs

Evaluating random search strategies in three mammals from distinct feeding guilds.

Science.gov (United States)

Auger-Méthé, Marie; Derocher, Andrew E; DeMars, Craig A; Plank, Michael J; Codling, Edward A; Lewis, Mark A

2016-09-01

Searching allows animals to find food, mates, shelter and other resources essential for survival and reproduction and is thus among the most important activities performed by animals. Theory predicts that animals will use random search strategies in highly variable and unpredictable environments. Two prominent models have been suggested for animals searching in sparse and heterogeneous environments: (i) the Lévy walk and (ii) the composite correlated random walk (CCRW) and its associated area-restricted search behaviour. Until recently, it was difficult to differentiate between the movement patterns of these two strategies. Using a new method that assesses whether movement patterns are consistent with these two strategies and two other common random search strategies, we investigated the movement behaviour of three species inhabiting sparse northern environments: woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou), barren-ground grizzly bear (Ursus arctos) and polar bear (Ursus maritimus). These three species vary widely in their diets and thus allow us to contrast the movement patterns of animals from different feeding guilds. Our results showed that although more traditional methods would have found evidence for the Lévy walk for some individuals, a comparison of the Lévy walk to CCRWs showed stronger support for the latter. While a CCRW was the best model for most individuals, there was a range of support for its absolute fit. A CCRW was sufficient to explain the movement of nearly half of herbivorous caribou and a quarter of omnivorous grizzly bears, but was insufficient to explain the movement of all carnivorous polar bears. Strong evidence for CCRW movement patterns suggests that many individuals may use a multiphasic movement strategy rather than one-behaviour strategies such as the Lévy walk. The fact that the best model was insufficient to describe the movement paths of many individuals suggests that some animals living in sparse environments may use

An evaluation of oligonucleotide-based therapeutic strategies for polyQ diseases

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fiszer Agnieszka

2012-03-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background RNA interference (RNAi and antisense strategies provide experimental therapeutic agents for numerous diseases, including polyglutamine (polyQ disorders caused by CAG repeat expansion. We compared the potential of different oligonucleotide-based strategies for silencing the genes responsible for several polyQ diseases, including Huntington's disease and two spinocerebellar ataxias, type 1 and type 3. The strategies included nonallele-selective gene silencing, gene replacement, allele-selective SNP targeting and CAG repeat targeting. Results Using the patient-derived cell culture models of polyQ diseases, we tested various siRNAs, and antisense reagents and assessed their silencing efficiency and allele selectivity. We showed considerable allele discrimination by several SNP targeting siRNAs based on a weak G-G or G-U pairing with normal allele and strong G-C pairing with mutant allele at the site of RISC-induced cleavage. Among the CAG repeat targeting reagents the strongest allele discrimination is achieved by miRNA-like functioning reagents that bind to their targets and inhibit their translation without substantial target cleavage. Also, morpholino analog performs well in mutant and normal allele discrimination but its efficient delivery to cells at low effective concentration still remains a challenge. Conclusions Using three cellular models of polyQ diseases and the same experimental setup we directly compared the performance of different oligonucleotide-based treatment strategies that are currently under development. Based on the results obtained by us and others we discussed the advantages and drawbacks of these strategies considering them from several different perspectives. The strategy aimed at nonallele-selective inhibiting of causative gene expression by targeting specific sequence of the implicated gene is the easiest to implement but relevant benefits are still uncertain. The gene replacement strategy that

Evaluating Monitoring Strategies to Detect Precipitation-Induced Microbial Contamination Events in Karstic Springs Used for Drinking Water

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michael D. Besmer

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Monitoring of microbial drinking water quality is a key component for ensuring safety and understanding risk, but conventional monitoring strategies are typically based on low sampling frequencies (e.g., quarterly or monthly. This is of concern because many drinking water sources, such as karstic springs are often subject to changes in bacterial concentrations on much shorter time scales (e.g., hours to days, for example after precipitation events. Microbial contamination events are crucial from a risk assessment perspective and should therefore be targeted by monitoring strategies to establish both the frequency of their occurrence and the magnitude of bacterial peak concentrations. In this study we used monitoring data from two specific karstic springs. We assessed the performance of conventional monitoring based on historical records and tested a number of alternative strategies based on a high-resolution data set of bacterial concentrations in spring water collected with online flow cytometry (FCM. We quantified the effect of increasing sampling frequency and found that for the specific case studied, at least bi-weekly sampling would be needed to detect precipitation events with a probability of >90%. We then proposed an optimized monitoring strategy with three targeted samples per event, triggered by precipitation measurements. This approach is more effective and efficient than simply increasing overall sampling frequency. It would enable the water utility to (1 analyze any relevant event and (2 limit median underestimation of peak concentrations to approximately 10%. We conclude with a generalized perspective on sampling optimization and argue that the assessment of short-term dynamics causing microbial peak loads initially requires increased sampling/analysis efforts, but can be optimized subsequently to account for limited resources. This offers water utilities and public health authorities systematic ways to evaluate and optimize their

Design, monitoring and evaluation of a direct payments approach for an ecotourism strategy to reduce illegal hunting and trade of wildlife in Lao PDR

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, Arlyne; Duangdala, Sivilay; Hansel, Troy

2018-01-01

Ecotourism as a strategy for achieving biodiversity conservation often results in limited conservation impact relative to its investment and revenue return. In cases where an ecotourism strategy has been used, projects are frequently criticized for not providing sufficient evidence on how the strategy has reduced threats or improved the status of the biodiversity it purports to protect. In Lao PDR, revenue from ecotourism has not been directly linked to or dependent on improvements in biodiversity and there is no evidence that ecotourism enterprises have contributed to conservation. In other developing countries, direct payments through explicit contracts in return for ecosystem services have been proposed as a more cost-effective means for achieving conservation, although further research is needed to evaluate the impact of this approach. To address this need, a new model was tested in the Nam Et-Phou Louey National Protected Area (NPA) in Lao PDR using a direct payments approach to create ecotourism incentives for villagers to increase wildlife populations. Over a four-year period, we monitored along a theory of change to evaluate assumptions about the linkages between intermediate results and biological outcomes. Preliminary results show a negative correlation between ecotourism benefits and hunting infractions in target villages; no increase in hunting sign in the ecotourism sector of the NPA relative to a three-fold increase in hunting sign across the NPA’s non-tourism sectors; and an overall increase in wildlife sightings. This case provides key lessons on the design of a direct payments approach for an ecotourism strategy, including how to combine threat monitoring and data on wildlife sightings to evaluate strategy effectiveness, on setting rates for wildlife sightings and village fees, and the utility of the approach for protecting very rare species. PMID:29489821

Design, monitoring and evaluation of a direct payments approach for an ecotourism strategy to reduce illegal hunting and trade of wildlife in Lao PDR.

Science.gov (United States)

Eshoo, Paul Frederick; Johnson, Arlyne; Duangdala, Sivilay; Hansel, Troy

2018-01-01

Ecotourism as a strategy for achieving biodiversity conservation often results in limited conservation impact relative to its investment and revenue return. In cases where an ecotourism strategy has been used, projects are frequently criticized for not providing sufficient evidence on how the strategy has reduced threats or improved the status of the biodiversity it purports to protect. In Lao PDR, revenue from ecotourism has not been directly linked to or dependent on improvements in biodiversity and there is no evidence that ecotourism enterprises have contributed to conservation. In other developing countries, direct payments through explicit contracts in return for ecosystem services have been proposed as a more cost-effective means for achieving conservation, although further research is needed to evaluate the impact of this approach. To address this need, a new model was tested in the Nam Et-Phou Louey National Protected Area (NPA) in Lao PDR using a direct payments approach to create ecotourism incentives for villagers to increase wildlife populations. Over a four-year period, we monitored along a theory of change to evaluate assumptions about the linkages between intermediate results and biological outcomes. Preliminary results show a negative correlation between ecotourism benefits and hunting infractions in target villages; no increase in hunting sign in the ecotourism sector of the NPA relative to a three-fold increase in hunting sign across the NPA's non-tourism sectors; and an overall increase in wildlife sightings. This case provides key lessons on the design of a direct payments approach for an ecotourism strategy, including how to combine threat monitoring and data on wildlife sightings to evaluate strategy effectiveness, on setting rates for wildlife sightings and village fees, and the utility of the approach for protecting very rare species.

Genesis nature of financial strategy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

O.V. Pashchenko

2015-03-01

Full Text Available The article is devoted to the study of the origin and history of the interpretation of the genesis of «strategy», «financial strategy», its elements and composite types. Scientists studied different views on the concept of strategy. Several specific positions founders of different approaches to define the strategy of schools operating strategies involved in the formulation and implementation of the concept of «strategy». Evaluation of different schools of strategies that deepened understanding of the industry and its strategy in the early stages of formation. Based on the works of various scholars studied by the author actually proposed interpretation of the concept strategy. The general industry and functional strategies which include the following strategies: innovation, resource, financial, production, marketing and human resources. Allocated financial strategy and its significant impact on other strategies. Author developed financial sector strategy and financial strategy of competitive enterprise. The importance of financial strategies under conditions of companies and the industry as a whole, as well as components of development of financial strategy. Deals with the factors that must be considered in the development and implementation of financial strategies. The systems analysis strategies and the impact on financial results, the estimation of their attractiveness and risk. Considered classification on the basis of financial strategies and sectoral orientation of the financial sector strategy based on company size, its form and noted the importance of this trait in systematizing strategies. The expediency of the financial strategy. Defined competitive advantage and efficiency of business and industry through the implementation of various financial strategies.

A middle evaluation report on R and D subjects in fiscal year 2000. Evaluation subject: 'investigation on actualization strategy of fast breeder reactor cycle'

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2000-08-01

The Japan Nuclear Cycle Development Institute (JNC) consulted the titled middle evaluation to the Subject Evaluation Committee (SEC) according to the Schematic indication on practice procedure of evaluation common to the generalized national R and D' and so on. By receiving the consult, SEC on wastes treatment and disposal carried out evaluation of this subject on basis of documents proposed from JNC and discussions at SEC according to an evaluation procedure determined by SEC. This subject was already investigated at the third group on establishment of long term program on new nuclear energy and concluded its promotion, it can be said that aim and meaning of its R and D is clear. And, at a viewpoint of middle- and long-term business program of JNC, it can also be positioned to be at an important mission. In order to carry out flexible response to versatile needs in future for giving a meaning of development strategy of fast breeder reactor (FBR) cycle, under full understanding of variability of a promise condition for the aim and meaning of this research such as environment around development of FBR cycle development, R nad D of the program must be promoted. In this program picking-out of every subject and research program are adequately promoted to be enough evaluated for the middle results. Here was summarized by the evaluation results with documents proposed by JNC. As a result of the evaluation, it was shown that as general directionality of this program was judged to be valid. (G.K.)

The design of a real-time formative evaluation of the implementation process of lifestyle interventions at two worksites using a 7-step strategy (BRAVO@Work).

Science.gov (United States)

Wierenga, Debbie; Engbers, Luuk H; van Empelen, Pepijn; Hildebrandt, Vincent H; van Mechelen, Willem

2012-08-07

Worksite health promotion programs (WHPPs) offer an attractive opportunity to improve the lifestyle of employees. Nevertheless, broad scale and successful implementation of WHPPs in daily practice often fails. In the present study, called BRAVO@Work, a 7-step implementation strategy was used to develop, implement and embed a WHPP in two different worksites with a focus on multiple lifestyle interventions.This article describes the design and framework for the formative evaluation of this 7-step strategy under real-time conditions by an embedded scientist with the purpose to gain insight into whether this this 7-step strategy is a useful and effective implementation strategy. Furthermore, we aim to gain insight into factors that either facilitate or hamper the implementation process, the quality of the implemented lifestyle interventions and the degree of adoption, implementation and continuation of these interventions. This study is a formative evaluation within two different worksites with an embedded scientist on site to continuously monitor the implementation process. Each worksite (i.e. a University of Applied Sciences and an Academic Hospital) will assign a participating faculty or a department, to implement a WHPP focusing on lifestyle interventions using the 7-step strategy. The primary focus will be to describe the natural course of development, implementation and maintenance of a WHPP by studying [a] the use and adherence to the 7-step strategy, [b] barriers and facilitators that influence the natural course of adoption, implementation and maintenance, and [c] the implementation process of the lifestyle interventions. All data will be collected using qualitative (i.e. real-time monitoring and semi-structured interviews) and quantitative methods (i.e. process evaluation questionnaires) applying data triangulation. Except for the real-time monitoring, the data collection will take place at baseline and after 6, 12 and 18 months. This is one of the few

The design of a real-time formative evaluation of the implementation process of lifestyle interventions at two worksites using a 7-step strategy (BRAVO@Work

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wierenga Debbie

2012-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Worksite health promotion programs (WHPPs offer an attractive opportunity to improve the lifestyle of employees. Nevertheless, broad scale and successful implementation of WHPPs in daily practice often fails. In the present study, called BRAVO@Work, a 7-step implementation strategy was used to develop, implement and embed a WHPP in two different worksites with a focus on multiple lifestyle interventions. This article describes the design and framework for the formative evaluation of this 7-step strategy under real-time conditions by an embedded scientist with the purpose to gain insight into whether this this 7-step strategy is a useful and effective implementation strategy. Furthermore, we aim to gain insight into factors that either facilitate or hamper the implementation process, the quality of the implemented lifestyle interventions and the degree of adoption, implementation and continuation of these interventions. Methods and design This study is a formative evaluation within two different worksites with an embedded scientist on site to continuously monitor the implementation process. Each worksite (i.e. a University of Applied Sciences and an Academic Hospital will assign a participating faculty or a department, to implement a WHPP focusing on lifestyle interventions using the 7-step strategy. The primary focus will be to describe the natural course of development, implementation and maintenance of a WHPP by studying [a] the use and adherence to the 7-step strategy, [b] barriers and facilitators that influence the natural course of adoption, implementation and maintenance, and [c] the implementation process of the lifestyle interventions. All data will be collected using qualitative (i.e. real-time monitoring and semi-structured interviews and quantitative methods (i.e. process evaluation questionnaires applying data triangulation. Except for the real-time monitoring, the data collection will take place at baseline and

Examining the Relationship between Teachers' Self-Efficacy, Their Digital Competence, Strategies to Evaluate Information, and Use of ICT at School

Science.gov (United States)

Hatlevik, Ove Edvard

2017-01-01

Research indicates that self-efficacy in teaching is a key issue for carrying out good teaching practice. The aim of this paper was to examine the relationship between teachers' self-efficacy in information and communication technologies (ICT), their strategies to evaluate information, their digital competence, and use of ICT at school. A sample…

Analysis of the Proposed Ghana Broadband Strategy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Williams, Idongesit; Botwe, Yvonne

This project studied the Ghana Broadband Strategy with the aim of evaluating the recommendations in the strategy side by side the broadband development in Ghana. The researchers conducted interviews both officially and unofficially with ICT stakeholders, made observations, studied Government...... intervention policies recommended in the Ghana broadband policy is used to evaluate the broadband market to find out whether the strategy consolidates with the Strengths and opportunities of the market and whether it corrects the anomalies that necessitate the weaknesses and threats to the market....... The strategy did address some threats and weaknesses of the broadband market. It also consolidated on some strengths and opportunities of the broadband market. The researchers also discovered that a market can actually grow without a policy. But a market will grow faster if a well implemented policy is guiding...

Evaluating the effectiveness of a strategy for teaching neonatal resuscitation in West Africa.

Science.gov (United States)

Enweronu-Laryea, Christabel; Engmann, Cyril; Osafo, Alexandra; Bose, Carl

2009-11-01

To evaluate the effectiveness of a strategy for teaching neonatal resuscitation on the cognitive knowledge of health professionals who attend deliveries in Ghana, West Africa. Train-the-trainer model was used to train health professionals at 2-3 day workshops from 2003 to 2007. Obstetric Anticipatory Care and Basic Neonatal Care modules were taught as part of Neonatal Resuscitation Training package. American Neonatal Resuscitation Program was adapted to the clinical role of participants and local resources. Cognitive knowledge was evaluated by written pre- and post-training tests. The median pre-training and post-training scores were 38% and 71% for midwives, 43% and 81% for nurses, 52% and 90% for nurse anaesthetists, and 62% and 98% for physicians. All groups of the 271 professionals (18 nurse anaesthetists, 55 nurses, 68 physicians, and 130 midwives) who completed the course showed significant improvement (pfacilities were less likely to achieve passing post-test scores than midwives at secondary and tertiary facilities [35/53 vs. 24/26 vs. 45/51 (p=0.004)] respectively. Evidence-based neonatal resuscitation training adapted to local resources significantly improved cognitive knowledge of all groups of health professionals. Further modification of training for midwives working at primary level health facilities and incorporation of neonatal resuscitation in continuing education and professional training programs are recommended.

Evaluating the enforceability of texting laws: strategies tested in Connecticut and Massachusetts.

Science.gov (United States)

2017-03-01

The purpose of this research was to explore alternative strategies for increasing seat belt use. Researchers examined behavior : change strategies proven effective in education, healthcare, advertising, and marketing, and they considered how these : ...

Strategies for Evaluating a Freshman Studies Program.

Science.gov (United States)

Ketkar, Kusum; Bennett, Shelby D.

1989-01-01

The study developed an economic model for the evaluation of Seaton Hall University's freshman studies program. Two techniques used to evaluate the economic success of the program are break-even analysis and elasticity coefficient. (Author/MLW)

Strategies facilitating practice change in pediatric cancer: a systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Robinson, Paula D; Dupuis, Lee L; Tomlinson, George; Phillips, Bob; Greenberg, Mark; Sung, Lillian

2016-09-01

By conducting a systematic review, we describe strategies to actively disseminate knowledge or facilitate practice change among healthcare providers caring for children with cancer and we evaluate the effectiveness of these strategies. We searched Ovid Medline, EMBASE and PsychINFO. Fully published primary studies were included if they evaluated one or more professional intervention strategies to actively disseminate knowledge or facilitate practice change in pediatric cancer or hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Data extracted included study characteristics and strategies evaluated. In studies with a quantitative analysis of patient outcomes, the relationship between study-level characteristics and statistically significant primary analyses was evaluated. Of 20 644 titles and abstracts screened, 146 studies were retrieved in full and 60 were included. In 20 studies, quantitative evaluation of patient outcomes was examined and a primary outcome was stated. Eighteen studies were 'before and after' design; there were no randomized studies. All studies were at risk for bias. Interrupted time series was never the primary analytic approach. No specific strategy type was successful at improving patient outcomes. Literature describing strategies to facilitate practice change in pediatric cancer is emerging. However, major methodological limitations exist. Studies with robust designs are required to identify effective strategies to effect practice change. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press in association with the International Society for Quality in Health Care. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

An initial evaluation of potential options for managing riparian reserves of the Aquatic Conservation Strategy of the Northwest Forest Plan

Science.gov (United States)

Gordon H. Reeves; Brian R. Pickard; K. Norman. Johnson

2016-01-01

The Aquatic Conservation Strategy (ACS) of the Northwest Forest Plan guides management of riparian and aquatic ecosystems on federal lands in western Oregon, western Washington, and northern California. We applied new scientific findings and tools to evaluate two potential options, A and B, for refining interim riparian reserves to meet ACS goals and likely challenges...

Evaluating strategies for sustainable intensification of US agriculture through the Long-Term Agroecosystem Research network

Science.gov (United States)

Spiegal, S.; Bestelmeyer, B. T.; Archer, D. W.; Augustine, D. J.; Boughton, E. H.; Boughton, R. K.; Cavigelli, M. A.; Clark, P. E.; Derner, J. D.; Duncan, E. W.; Hapeman, C. J.; Harmel, R. D.; Heilman, P.; Holly, M. A.; Huggins, D. R.; King, K.; Kleinman, P. J. A.; Liebig, M. A.; Locke, M. A.; McCarty, G. W.; Millar, N.; Mirsky, S. B.; Moorman, T. B.; Pierson, F. B.; Rigby, J. R.; Robertson, G. P.; Steiner, J. L.; Strickland, T. C.; Swain, H. M.; Wienhold, B. J.; Wulfhorst, J. D.; Yost, M. A.; Walthall, C. L.

2018-03-01

to match land and economic potential, (3) building adaptive capacity to accelerating environmental changes, and (4) managing agricultural landscapes for multiple ecosystem services. Key to understanding the potential of these practices and strategies are informational, economic, and social factors—and trade-offs among them—that limit their adoption. LTAR is evaluating several actions for overcoming these barriers, including finding financial mechanisms to make aspirational production systems more profitable, resolving uncertainties about trade-offs, and building collaborative capacity among agricultural producers, stakeholders, and scientists from a broad range of disciplines.

Waste Management Strategy in The Netherlands. Part 3. Strategy Selection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Haverkate, B.R.W.

2003-01-01

This report reflects the Dutch input prepared in the framework of work package 3 of the EU thematic network COMPAS, which dealt with the evaluation and comparison of waste management strategies in EU member states and their applicant countries. Based on three generic decision trees the current strategy as well as the reason(s) for the selected options regarding radioactive waste management in The Netherlands is extensively described in this report. The trees are represented in terms of (numbered) decision nodes. Each node is discussed in the context of the Dutch situation, with relevant potential outcomes being highlighted where possible. After a short introduction (chapter 1) followed by a brief waste management policy overview (chapter 2), this approach is considered, in chapter 3, for: spent nuclear fuel and high level waste; low and intermediate level waste; disposal strategy

PROFITABILITY EVALUATION METHODS – A STRATEGY FOR ROMANIAN COMPANIES TO AVOID INSOLVENCY.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

SABĂU CĂTĂLIN

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Addressing economic strategies for determining the stability and financial position of the companies has become a very topical issue in recent years due to the financial crisis manifested worlwide in 2008 and which led to the start of insolvency proceedings for a considerable number of Romanian companies , which often resulted in bankruptcy for the firms concerned. Beside the international macroeconomic context, another issue that we consider essential and which led to the bankruptcy of Romanian companies is the lack of emphasis on financial analysis and diagnostic methods in determining a company's profitability and financial prospects of development in the short, medium and long term. Precisely for this reason a large number of Romanian companies fall prey to unsustainable financial commitments, often have low liquidity and the rate of equity return (ROE is below the industry average thus denoting a lack of real competitive capabilities. This article seeks to highlight the positive contribution that can be implemented in the awareness of management regarding stability and the financial position of the company wchich is evaluated in order for the managers to make the necessary arrangements in time for the recovery, efficiency and sustainable implementation of a medium and long term business plan by analyzing the concepts of capitalization and upgrading but also but also by analyzing the evaluation method based on determining the beneficiary capacity; cash flow and discounted cash flow method.

Metacognitive strategies in learning sight-singing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bogunović Blanka

2012-01-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a part of a wider study that is based on interdisciplinary research of sight-singing (psychology and music education. Our intention was to join the psychological knowledge of cognitive processes on the one hand, and the practical approach of music teachers, based on methods, techniques and procedures of mastering sight-reading-singing skills on the other. We aimed: 1. to determine the kinds and levels of strategies that music students use in the cognitive processes involved during sight-singing; 2. to explore strategies of problem solving when difficulties appear; 3. to investigate the self-evaluation perspectives of students; and 4. to relate students' learning experience to the strategies used. The sample consisted of 89 music students from higher music education in Belgrade and The Hague. They filled in the questionnaire based on self-reports, covering general data about their music education background, different issues of sight-singing, such as planning, problem solving, monitoring and evaluation of outcomes, and three melodic examples written in different musical styles. Results showed that strategies used during sight-singing can be roughly sorted into three groups that differ according to the 'key accent' given: cognitive, intuitive and no-strategy. The music cognitive strategies involved cover three levels of musical organization and representation: a relying on smaller chunks of the musical piece, referring to existing knowledge and learning experience; b leaning on a slightly 'bigger picture' of familiar patterns; and c mental representation of melodic/rhythmic/harmonic structures. When faced with a problem, half of the students employed analytic approaches. Comparisons between sub-samples showed, for example, that future performing musicians more often used 'tone-to-tone' thinking and 'bottom-up' strategies in approaching musical structure, while music theory students had better insight into the whole and used

Economic Evaluation of a Multifaceted Implementation Strategy for the Prevention of Hand Eczema Among Healthcare Workers in Comparison with a Control Group: The Hands4U Study.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Van Der Meer, Esther W C; van Dongen, J.M.; Boot, C.R.; van der Gulden, J.W.; Bosmans, J.E.; Anema, J.R.

2016-01-01

The aim of this study was to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of a multifaceted implementation strategy for the prevention of hand eczema in comparison with a control group among healthcare workers. A total of 48 departments (n=1,649) were randomly allocated to the implementation strategy or the

Economic Evaluation of a Multifaceted Implementation Strategy for the Prevention of Hand Eczema Among Healthcare Workers in Comparison with a Control Group: The Hands4U Study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Meer, E.W. van der; Dongen, J.M. van; Boot, C.R.; Gulden, J.W.J. van der; Bosmans, J.E.; Anema, J.R.

2016-01-01

The aim of this study was to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of a multifaceted implementation strategy for the prevention of hand eczema in comparison with a control group among healthcare workers. A total of 48 departments (n=1,649) were randomly allocated to the implementation strategy or the

Marketingová strategie pro značku Zlaté.

OpenAIRE

Kučerová, Jana

2010-01-01

Goal of the thesis Marketing strategy of brand Zlate is to evaluate newly formulated marketing strategy of the brand and after that on the basis of own questionaire to suggest future brand activities that will strenghten Zlaté brand on the Czech and Slovak markets. Theoretical part deals with marketing in general, strategies and planning and applicatin of marketing plan to individual parts of marketing mix. Practical part describes brand Zlate as such, its position in Kraft Foods, evaluation ...

Evaluating Evaluation Systems: Policy Levers and Strategies for Studying Implementation of Educator Evaluation. Policy Snapshot

Science.gov (United States)

Matlach, Lauren

2015-01-01

Evaluation studies can provide feedback on implementation, support continuous improvement, and increase understanding of evaluation systems' impact on teaching and learning. Despite the importance of educator evaluation studies, states often need support to prioritize and fund them. Successful studies require expertise, time, and a shared…

Novel Detection Strategy To Rapidly Evaluate the Efficacy of Antichlamydial Agents.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Yan; Xian, Yuqi; Gao, Leiqiong; Elaasar, Hiba; Wang, Yao; Tauhid, Lamiya; Hua, Ziyu; Shen, Li

2017-02-01

Chlamydia trachomatis infections present a major heath burden worldwide. The conventional method used to detect C. trachomatis is laborious. In the present study, a novel strategy was utilized to evaluate the impact of antimicrobial agents on the growth of C. trachomatis and its expression of ompA promoter-driven green fluorescence protein (GFP). We demonstrate that this GFP reporter system gives a robust fluorescent display of C. trachomatis growth in human cervical epithelial cells and, further, that GFP production directly correlates to changes in ompA expression following sufficient exposure to antimicrobials. Validation with azithromycin, the first-line macrolide drug used for the treatment of C. trachomatis infection, highlights the advantages of this method over the traditional method because of its simplicity and versatility. The results indicate both that ompA is highly responsive to antimicrobials targeting the transcription and translation of C. trachomatis and that there is a correlation between changing GFP levels and C. trachomatis growth. This proof-of-concept study also reveals that the ompA-GFP system can be easily adapted to rapidly assess antimicrobial effectiveness in a high-throughput format. Copyright © 2017 American Society for Microbiology.

Adult vaccination strategies for the control of pertussis in the United States: an economic evaluation including the dynamic population effects.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Laurent Coudeville

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Prior economic evaluations of adult and adolescent vaccination strategies against pertussis have reached disparate conclusions. Using static approaches only, previous studies failed to analytically include the indirect benefits derived from herd immunity as well as the impact of vaccination on the evolution of disease incidence over time. METHODS: We assessed the impact of different pertussis vaccination strategies using a dynamic compartmental model able to consider pertussis transmission. We then combined the results with economic data to estimate the relative cost-effectiveness of pertussis immunization strategies for adolescents and adults in the US. The analysis compares combinations of programs targeting adolescents, parents of newborns (i.e. cocoon strategy, or adults of various ages. RESULTS: In the absence of adolescent or adult vaccination, pertussis incidence among adults is predicted to more than double in 20 years. Implementing an adult program in addition to childhood and adolescent vaccination either based on 1 a cocoon strategy and a single booster dose or 2 a decennial routine vaccination would maintain a low level of pertussis incidence in the long run for all age groups (respectively 30 and 20 cases per 100,000 person years. These strategies would also result in significant reductions of pertussis costs (between -77% and -80% including additional vaccination costs. The cocoon strategy complemented by a single booster dose is the most cost-effective one, whereas the decennial adult vaccination is slightly more effective in the long run. CONCLUSIONS: By providing a high level of disease control, the implementation of an adult vaccination program against pertussis appears to be highly cost-effective and often cost-saving.

Risk evaluation and mitigation strategies (REMS): educating the prescriber.

Science.gov (United States)

Nicholson, Susan C; Peterson, Janet; Yektashenas, Behin

2012-02-01

The US FDA Amendments Act of 2007 was signed into law on 27 September 2007. A provision of this law granted the FDA new powers to enhance drug safety by requiring the pharmaceutical industry to develop Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategies (REMS). REMS are deemed necessary when a question exists as to whether the benefits of a drug outweigh its risks. REMS constitute a safety plan with several potential components, including a medication guide, a communication plan, elements to ensure safe use and an implementation system to help guide the prescribers, pharmacists and patients. This applies to existing drugs on the market, new drug applications (NDAs), abbreviated NDAs (generics) and biologics licence applications. REMS represent an 'upgrade' from previously required risk minimization action plans, based on the strengthening of FDA powers of authority and enforceability to incur monetary penalties against individuals representing the pharmaceutical industry who fail to comply. For illustrative purposes, we chose the drug romiplostim (Nplate®) to present an REMS, as all components were utilized to help assuage risks associated with the drug. Romiplostim is an FDA-approved drug used to treat thrombocytopenia in patients with chronic immune (idiopathic) thrombocytopenic purpura that has a significant adverse safety profile based on the risk of changes in bone marrow reticulin formation and bone marrow fibroses, and other associated risks. This review of current REMS policy is intended to provide the prescriber with a better understanding of current modalities in FDA-mandated drug safety programmes, which will impact day-to-day healthcare provider practices.

Adaptive Strategy for Online Gait Learning Evaluated on the Polymorphic Robotic LocoKit

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christensen, David Johan; Larsen, Jørgen Christian; Stoy, Kasper

2012-01-01

This paper presents experiments with a morphologyindependent, life-long strategy for online learning of locomotion gaits, performed on a quadruped robot constructed from the LocoKit modular robot. The learning strategy applies a stochastic optimization algorithm to optimize eight open parameters...... of a central pattern generator based gait implementation. We observe that the strategy converges in roughly ten minutes to gaits of similar or higher velocity than a manually designed gait and that the strategy readapts in the event of failed actuators. In future work we plan to study co-learning...

Strategie vstupu na zahraniční trh

OpenAIRE

Kalista, Pavel

2014-01-01

This thesis is focusing on problem of choosing the right foreign market for international expansion of a small company. It's main part is about setting the right foreign market entry strategy, that comprises of internationalization strategy, market entry mode strategy and international management strategy. On the basis of this strategy were set the criteria for evaluating target market's potential, and they were also immediately used in analysis of two pre-chosen markets.

ATL with strategy contexts: Expressiveness and Model Checking.

OpenAIRE

Da Costa , Arnaud; Laroussinie , François; Markey , Nicolas

2010-01-01

We study the alternating-time temporal logics ATL and ATL* extended with strategy contexts: these make agents commit to their strategies during the evaluation of formulas, contrary to plain ATL and ATL* where strategy quantifiers reset previously selected strategies. We illustrate the important expressive power of strategy contexts by proving that they make the extended logics, namely ATLsc and ATLsc*, equally expressive: any formula in ATLsc* can be translated into an equivalent, linear-...

Pilot Evaluation of the Feasibility and Acceptability of StressOFF Strategies: A Single-Session School-Based Stress Management Program for Adolescents

Science.gov (United States)

Shapiro, Amy J.; Heath, Nancy L.; Carsley, Dana

2016-01-01

The present study reports the pilot evaluation of the feasibility and acceptability of StressOFF Strategies, a "single-session" (45 min) adolescent-targeted, school-based psychoeducational program, which introduces cognitive behavioral techniques and mindfulness-based techniques. Five hundred and sixty-five Grade 9 students (57% female;…

STRATEGY FORMULATION FOR DEVELOPING BATIK TULIS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Indah Eko Suryani

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The objective of this study was to formulate a development strategy in order to maintain the existence of Batik Tulis Rolla Junior. The study used a case study approach with Rumah Batik Tulis Rolla Junior as the research object. The data were analyzed by a value chain approach to determine the internal and external conditions influencing the existence of the Batik Tulis Rolla Junior. Furthermore, this study also used the analysis of Internal Factor Evaluation (IFE, External Factor Evaluation (EFE, Internal-External (IE Matrix, SWOT, dan Quantitative Strategic Planning Matrix (QSPM to create the development strategy. The results show that the strategies that can be recommended to Rolla Junior include 1 increasing the capital by Kredit Usaha Rakyat (KUR program, 2 conductiong expansions to other regencies, 3 creating a website/blog  to promote and perform business transactions, 4 increasing the frequency in joining exhibitions or EXPO both in regional and national levels, 5 conducting researches to solve the problem of coloring which requires sun rays, 6 conducting cooperations with raw material suppliers (backward integration, and 7 finding alternative suppliers of raw materials especially from the areas closer to Jember district.Keywords: development strategy, batik tulis Rolla Junior, SWOT, QSPMABSTRAKPenelitian ini bertujuan merumuskan strategi pengembangan sehingga dapat menjaga eksistensi Batik Tulis Rolla Junior. Penelitian menggunakan pendekatan studi kasus dengan Rolla Junior sebagai objek penelitiannya. Data dianalisis dengan pendekatan rantai nilai untuk mengetahui kondisi internal dan eksternal yang berpengaruh terhadap Batik Tulis kemudian menggunakan analisis Internal Factor Evaluation (IFE, External Factor Evaluation (EFE, Internal-External (IE Matrix, SWOT, dan Quantitative Strategic Planning Matrix (QSPM untuk menyusun strategi pengembangan Batik Tulis Rolla Junior. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa strategi-straegi prioritas

The development and initial assessment of the strategy and leadership systems capability evaluation survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Coon, Cheryl D; Bokowy, Kay L; Horblyuk, Ruslan; Zisman, Robert S; McLeod, Lori D; Brown, T Michelle

2012-01-01

Hospital management and leadership systems are associated with organizational success and quality care. The Strategy and Leadership Systems Capability Evaluation (CE) survey was developed by GE Healthcare to assess management and leadership systems at health care institutions, serve as a benchmark for improvement, and measure progress. To assess the psychometric properties of the 29-item CE survey, including the factor structure, scoring algorithm, reliability, and discriminant validity, an online survey was completed by 3450 employees at 15 US hospitals. Of these employees, 609 worked at a hospital where a leadership and management intervention occurred after the initial survey administration. Data were also collected on job level, number of hospital beds, hospital ownership, location, community type, and the implementation of hospital interventions. Item response frequencies showed no floor or ceiling effects and limited missing data. Interitem correlations were strong without obvious redundancies, and factor analysis suggested a unidimensional scale. The resulting scale had strong internal consistency and was able to discriminate among known groups. The CE survey was developed to evaluate management and leadership systems at health care institutions. This study provides psychometric evidence in support of the reliability, validity, and scoring structure of this survey.

Setting the Record Straight on "High-Yield" Strategies

Science.gov (United States)

Marzano, Robert J.

2009-01-01

Widely credited with proposing nine "high-yield" instructional strategies, author Robert J. Marzano sets the record straight about the broader number of strategies identified by the research. He provides a list of 41 strategies and suggests more nuanced ways of using, observing, and evaluating them. (Contains 1 figure.)

A platform for development and evaluation of real - time wind energy conversion strategies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Toccaceli, G; Cendoya, M; Battaiotto, P

2005-01-01

Wind energy is one of the most promising power generation alternatives, and one of the most dynamic scenarios for novel control strategies. The particular characteristics of each geographical zone, and the inherent randomness of the wind impose important constrains for the evaluation of a wind energy conversion system (WECS). This is particularly true for wind turbines and their associated instrumentation. A wind turbine emulator (WTE) can be used to help in the evaluation of hardware-software alternatives, avoiding difficult field tests by recreating real environments on a controlled testbed. It consists of an electrical machine driven by a solid-state converter. WTEs are controlled to provide a desired dynamic Torque-Speed characteristic, equivalent to a real wind turbine under prescribed external conditions. The control system provides a desired torque value as a function of wind and turbine shaft speeds. This work presents the hardware / software development of a WECS emulator to be used in analysis and design of Real-Time control strategies for different types of electric generators. The proposed system is composed by a wind turbine emulator connected to an AC generator. The Wind Turbine Emulator consists of a direct current (DC) motor that is driven by a four-quadrant DC/DC converter or chopper. It is made of a MOSFET H-Bridge, with a current control loop. The generator block consists of an asynchronous AC machine, driven by static converters tailored to particular applications (autonomous or grid-connected WECS).With the objective to have a versatile system, the control of WTE and WECS generator is carried out by a Pentium PC equipped with an I/O multifunction acquisition board. It generates reference values for the current control loop driving the chopper and measures the shaft rotation speed using an incremental optical encoder. Software for the PC is developed in MatLab/Simulink, using Real Time WorkShop (RTW) and Real Time Windows Target (RTWT). This

Evaluation of co-benefits from combined climate change and air pollution reduction strategies

Science.gov (United States)

Leitao, Joana; Van Dingenen, Rita; Dentener, Frank; Rao, Shilpa

2014-05-01

The connection of climate change and air pollution is becoming more relevant in the process of policy making and implementation of emission control strategies because of resulting co-benefits and trade-offs. Some sectors, such as fossil fuel combustion, are sources of both pollutants (NOx and PM) as well as greenhouse gas (CO2). Additionally, the use of wood burning as biofuel to reduce climate impact may in fact deteriorate air quality. Furthermore, several air pollutants are important radiative forcers and regulating their emissions impacts on climate. It is evident that both problems need to be undertaken with a common strategy and the existence of cross-policy with co-benefits may encourage their implementation. The LIMITS FP7 project (http://www.feem-project.net/limits/index.html) was designed with the main goal of assessing strategies for reduction of GHG emissions so that the 2°C target can be achieved. The work developed focus on the evaluation of the implementation of strategies analysing several aspects of different scenarios, namely: the feasibility of low carbon scenarios in terms of available technologies and infrastructure, the required financial mechanisms, and also the co-benefits regarding energy security, economic development and air pollution. For the latter, five integrated assessment models (IAMs) provided greenhouse gases and pollutant emission values for several scenarios. These were based on air pollution scenarios defined according to stringency and implementation of future global legislation. They which were also combined with 2 climate policy scenarios (no climate policy and 2.8 W/m2 target). The former are mostly focused on non-climate policies and technical control measures for emissions of air pollutants, such as PM2.5, NOx and SO2, with their emission factors harmonized between the IAMs. With the global air quality source-receptor model TM5-FASST the impact of the resulting emissions was analysed and the co-benefits of combined

Coping strategies among nursing staff at a university hospital

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

José Ricardo Ferreira da Fonseca

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Objective: to evaluate the association of coping strategies and characteristics of nursing professionals at a universityhospital. Methods: cross-sectional, quantitative study, with 92 professional nursing of an inpatient unit of a universityhospital. To evaluate them, Problems Coping Scale Mode was used, and the analysis was through the Spearman correlationcoefficient and the Mann-Whitney test. Results: a strategy focused on the problem was the most used, women seek morethe strategy focused in religious practice than men (p=0.017. The age (p=0.031, individual income (p=0.049 and workinghours (p=0.027 had also significantly correlation with the dimensions of the scale. Conclusion: socio-demographiccharacteristics are associated with coping strategies and may influence the choice of the individual for coping strategy.

Evaluation of Acquisition Strategies for Image-Based Construction Site Monitoring

Science.gov (United States)

Tuttas, S.; Braun, A.; Borrmann, A.; Stilla, U.

2016-06-01

Construction site monitoring is an essential task for keeping track of the ongoing construction work and providing up-to-date information for a Building Information Model (BIM). The BIM contains the as-planned states (geometry, schedule, costs, ...) of a construction project. For updating, the as-built state has to be acquired repeatedly and compared to the as-planned state. In the approach presented here, a 3D representation of the as-built state is calculated from photogrammetric images using multi-view stereo reconstruction. On construction sites one has to cope with several difficulties like security aspects, limited accessibility, occlusions or construction activity. Different acquisition strategies and techniques, namely (i) terrestrial acquisition with a hand-held camera, (ii) aerial acquisition using a Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) and (iii) acquisition using a fixed stereo camera pair at the boom of the crane, are tested on three test sites. They are assessed considering the special needs for the monitoring tasks and limitations on construction sites. The three scenarios are evaluated based on the ability of automation, the required effort for acquisition, the necessary equipment and its maintaining, disturbance of the construction works, and on the accuracy and completeness of the resulting point clouds. Based on the experiences during the test cases the following conclusions can be drawn: Terrestrial acquisition has the lowest requirements on the device setup but lacks on automation and coverage. The crane camera shows the lowest flexibility but the highest grade of automation. The UAV approach can provide the best coverage by combining nadir and oblique views, but can be limited by obstacles and security aspects. The accuracy of the point clouds is evaluated based on plane fitting of selected building parts. The RMS errors of the fitted parts range from 1 to a few cm for the UAV and the hand-held scenario. First results show that the crane camera

EVALUATION OF ACQUISITION STRATEGIES FOR IMAGE-BASED CONSTRUCTION SITE MONITORING

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Tuttas

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Construction site monitoring is an essential task for keeping track of the ongoing construction work and providing up-to-date information for a Building Information Model (BIM. The BIM contains the as-planned states (geometry, schedule, costs, ... of a construction project. For updating, the as-built state has to be acquired repeatedly and compared to the as-planned state. In the approach presented here, a 3D representation of the as-built state is calculated from photogrammetric images using multi-view stereo reconstruction. On construction sites one has to cope with several difficulties like security aspects, limited accessibility, occlusions or construction activity. Different acquisition strategies and techniques, namely (i terrestrial acquisition with a hand-held camera, (ii aerial acquisition using a Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV and (iii acquisition using a fixed stereo camera pair at the boom of the crane, are tested on three test sites. They are assessed considering the special needs for the monitoring tasks and limitations on construction sites. The three scenarios are evaluated based on the ability of automation, the required effort for acquisition, the necessary equipment and its maintaining, disturbance of the construction works, and on the accuracy and completeness of the resulting point clouds. Based on the experiences during the test cases the following conclusions can be drawn: Terrestrial acquisition has the lowest requirements on the device setup but lacks on automation and coverage. The crane camera shows the lowest flexibility but the highest grade of automation. The UAV approach can provide the best coverage by combining nadir and oblique views, but can be limited by obstacles and security aspects. The accuracy of the point clouds is evaluated based on plane fitting of selected building parts. The RMS errors of the fitted parts range from 1 to a few cm for the UAV and the hand-held scenario. First results show that the crane

Assessment of generic accident management strategies considered for near term implementation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lehner, J.R.; Luckas, W.J.; Vandenkieboom, J.J.

1989-01-01

The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and the industry are both participating in the identification of measures that can prevent the progression of a severe accident or mitigate its consequences. Information important for evaluating these accident management strategies for specific plants is expected to result from the ongoing Individual Plant Evaluation (IPE) program. However, NRC staff have identified a number of generic strategies which may not have to await the results of the IPE program and therefore can be considered for earlier implementation. The NRC requested two of its contractors, Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) and Battelle Pacific Northwest Laboratories (PNL) to evaluate these strategies. The twenty one candidate strategies fall under three broad global strategies: (1) conserving and replenishing limited resources, (2) use of systems/components in innovative applications, and (3) defeating interlocks and component protective trips in emergencies. Some strategies apply to BWRs or PWRs only, other apply to both types of plants. This paper describes the evaluation of the strategies performed by Brookhaven National Laboratory. Brookhaven National Laboratory assessed the proposed strategies by first detailing the objective of the strategy and listing the actions involved in the implementation. A description of the plant systems associated with the strategy was given. Next, the applicability of existing rules or plant procedures to a particular strategy was investigated. This was accomplished by a fairly detailed, but by no means exhaustive review of the emergency operating procedures of several plants, as well as utility and NRC reports related to accident management

Language Learning Strategies of EFL College Students

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dewi Furwana

2017-02-01

Full Text Available The objectives of the research were (1 to investigate the most dominant language learning strategies (LLS used by sixth semester students of English Department of Tarbiyah Faculty at UIN Alauddin Makassar and (2 to find out the differences of using LLS between high achieving students and low achieving students. The result of the quantitative data through questionnaire showed that (1 metacognitive strategies was the most dominant LLS used, and (2 the high achieving students used metacognitive strategies with the highest preference and low achieving students used compensation strategies with the highest preference. The result of the qualitative data through think aloud showed that (1 the most dominant LLS employed by students were listening music, utilizing time for practicing and self-evaluating, (2 the most dominant LLS used by high achieving students were utilizing time for practicing, practicing English together and self-evaluating, whereas the most dominant LLS used by low achieving students were listening music, asking friend and selecting topic. The data were collected through documentation used to classify high achieving students and low achieving students based on their grade point average. It is concluded that the most dominant language learning strategies employed by students was metacognitive strategies. High achieving students employed different strategy than low achieving students. High achieving students used learning strategies more frequently than low achieving students.

The strategies of mass screen culture

OpenAIRE

Vorozheikin Yevhen Petrovich

2015-01-01

The article deals with strategies of mass screen culture aimed at manipulation with images of death and violence. The author highlights the main ways of implementation of these strategies, their relationship with contemporary cultural trends. Also the article observes negative consequences of such strategy as screen “anesthesia” of human feelings through transformation of images of death and violence in a way of exception of moral evaluation of the act of violence and death deprivation in met...

Evaluating the effect of three teaching strategies on student nurses' moral sensitivity.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Hsiao Lu; Huang, Shu-He; Huang, Chiu-Mieh

2017-09-01

The Taiwan Nursing Accreditation Council has proposed eight core professional nursing qualities including ethical literacy. Consequently, nursing ethics education is a required course for student nurses. These courses are intended to improve the ethical literacy. Moral sensitivity is the cornerstone of ethical literacy, and learning moral sensitivity is the initial step towards developing ethical literacy. To explore the effect of nursing ethics educational interventions based on multiple teaching strategies on student nurses moral sensitivity. Based on the visual, auditory and kinaesthetic model, three strategies were developed for determining the programme components and corresponding learning styles. This was a quasi-experimental study. A total of 234 junior-college student nurses participated in this study. All participants were aged 18-19 years. Ethical considerations: The study protocol was approved by the institutional review boards of Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital. Only the participants who signed an informed consent form took part in the study. The participants were permitted to withdraw from the study at any point if they wished to do so without affecting their academic score. The scores of Modified Moral Sensitivity Questionnaire for Student Nurses were significantly improved after the intervention of integrating multiple teaching strategies ( p = .042). Significant relationships were observed between the satisfaction scores of two teaching strategies and moral sensitivity. The results indicated that using multiple teaching strategies is effective for promoting nursing ethics learning. This strategy was consistent with the student nurses' preferred learning style and was used to correct their erroneous ethical conceptions, assisting in developing their ethical knowledge.

Approaches for Generating and Evaluating Product Positioning Strategy

OpenAIRE

Oghojafor Ben Akpoyomare; Ladipo Patrick Kunle Adeosun; Rahim Ajao Ganiyu

2013-01-01

Product positioning has been an important part of marketing since companies began to recognize the relevance of having control over their image. It is also a way of influencing consumer perception and purchase decisions as well as to satisfy corporate sales objectives. Developing an appropriate ¡®product positioning strategy¡¯ is usually influenced by such factors as the competitive marketplace, specific corporate goals, and organizational strengths. Once established, it has typically become ...

Evaluation of Strategies to Control a Potential Outbreak of Foot-and-Mouth Disease in Sweden

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fernanda C. Dórea

2017-07-01

Full Text Available To minimize the potential consequences of an introduction of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD in Europe, European Union (EU member states are required to present a contingency plan. This study used a simulation model to study potential outbreak scenarios in Sweden and evaluate the best control strategies. The model was informed by the Swedish livestock structure using herd information from cattle, pig, and small ruminant holdings in the country. The contact structure was based on animal movement data and studies investigating the movements between farms of veterinarians, service trucks, and other farm visitors. All scenarios of outbreak control included depopulation of detected herds, 3 km protection and 10 km surveillance zones, movement tracing, and 3 days national standstill. The effect of availability of surveillance resources, i.e., number of field veterinarians per day, and timeliness of enforcement of interventions, was assessed. With the estimated currently available resources, an FMD outbreak in Sweden is expected to be controlled (i.e., last infected herd detected within 3 weeks of detection in any evaluated scenario. The density of farms in the area where the epidemic started would have little impact on the time to control the outbreak, but spread in high density areas would require more surveillance resources, compared to areas of lower farm density. The use of vaccination did not result in a reduction in the expected number of infected herds. Preemptive depopulation was able to reduce the number of infected herds in extreme scenarios designed to test a combination of worst-case conditions of virus introduction and spread, but at the cost of doubling the number of herds culled. This likely resulted from a combination of the small outbreaks predicted by the spread model, and the high efficacy of the basic control measures evaluated, under the conditions of the Swedish livestock industry, and considering the assumed control

Recombinant hepatitis B surface antigen production in Aspergillus niger: evaluating the strategy of gene fusion to native glucoamylase

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

James, ER

2012-10-01

Full Text Available Microbiology and Biotechnology October 2012/ Vol. 96, No.2 Recombinant hepatitis B surface antigen production in Aspergillus niger: evaluating the strategy of gene fusion to native glucoamylase ER James a,c & WH van Zyl b & PJ van Zyl c & JF Görgens..., Pretoria 0001, South Africa Abstract This study demonstrates the potential of Aspergillus niger as a candidate expression system for virus- like particle production using gene fusion. Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) production, targeted...

Multicriteria two-stage model of assessment of museums' business strategies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mimović Predrag

2017-01-01

Full Text Available This paper analyzes and evaluates the museum activities in the current social, economic and political context, in order to prove the need for the identification and evaluation of business strategy for the cultural sector in general. In addition, the paper also studies methodological issues related to the model of evaluation and assessment of the strategy in the case of The 'Kragujevački Oktobar' Memorial Park. By applying the SWOT analysis and Analytic network process (ANP as an expert method for the support to decision making, critical success factors have been identified and their evaluation performed, in order to create optimum conditions for formulating business strategies and sustainable development of the Memorial Park.

Evaluation of pull production control strategies under uncertainty: An integrated fuzzy AHP-TOPSIS approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aydin Torkabadi

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Purpose: Just-In-Time (JIT production has continuously been considered by industrial practitioners and researchers as a leading strategy for the yet popular Lean production. Pull Production Control Policies (PPCPs are the major enablers of JIT that locally control the level of inventory by authorizing the production in each station. Aiming to improve the PPCPs, three authorization mechanisms: Kanban, constant-work-in-process (ConWIP, and a hybrid system, are evaluated by considering uncertainty. Design/methodology/approach: Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM methods are successful in evaluating alternatives with respect to several objectives. The proposed approach of this study applies the fuzzy set theory together with an integrated Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP and a Technique for Order Performance by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS method. Findings: The study finds that hybrid Kanban-ConWIP pull production control policies have a better performance in controlling the studied multi-layer multi-stage manufacturing and assembly system. Practical implications: To examine the approach a real case from automobile electro mechanical part production industry is studied. The production system consists of multiple levels of manufacturing, feeding a multi-stage assembly line with stochastic processing times to satisfy the changing demand. Originality/value: This study proposes the integrated Kanban-ConWIP hybrid pull control policies and implements several alternatives on a multi-stage and multi-layer manufacturing and assembly production system. An integrated Fuzzy AHP TOPSIS method is developed to evaluate the alternatives with respect to several JIT criteria.

EVALUASI STRATEGI BERSAING SMA KRISTEN 1 SALATIGA

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Eclesia Tehupeiory

2015-06-01

Full Text Available This study aims to evaluate the competitive strategies of SMA Kristen 1 Salatiga. The type of this study was a qualitative evaluation, through data collection by means of interviews, questionnaires, observation and documentation study. Data obtained and analyzed by an evaluation component based on Rumelt (2000 were consistency, consonance, advantage and feasibility. The results showed that: (1 Consistency evaluation of competitive strategy applied by SMA Kristen 1 Salatiga has shown consistency with the goals, values and policies of the school. (2 Consonance evaluation of competitive strategy has demonstrated suitability with the needs of society, while for competition with other schools, the school programs such as Peduli Kasih program, Sekolah Lima Hari, moving class, SMUQI Radio and multimedia extracurricular namely cinematography and photography are not appropriate. (3 Advantage evaluation of competitive strategy in the school programs such as Peduli Kasih, moving class, and Sekolah Lima Hari do not excel the resources, skills and superior positions. Other programs such as multimedia Extracurricular namely photography and cinematography is not superior to the superior position. Meanwhile, special programs such as the education expo, parenting day, career day and the Field Trip program through Live In and outdoor study do not excel in superior skills. (4 Feasibility evaluation shows that multimedia extracurricular programs have not showed the feasibility of the physical resources which involves computer supporting facilities and Wi-Fi. Suggestion to school in order to maintain the consistency that was owned, suitability to the needs of society as well as pay attention to competition with other schools also enhance the achievement of advantage and checking of IT facilities.

Communication strategies in acute health care: evaluation within the context of infection prevention and control.

Science.gov (United States)

Edwards, R; Sevdalis, N; Vincent, C; Holmes, A

2012-09-01

Communication in healthcare settings has recently received significant attention in the literature. However, there continues to be a large gap in current understanding of the effectiveness of different communication channels used in acute healthcare settings, particularly in the context of infection prevention and control (IPC). To explore and evaluate the main communication channels used within hospitals to communicate with healthcare workers (HCWs) and to propose practical recommendations. Critical review of the main communication channels used within acute health care to communicate information to HCWs, and analysis of their impact on practice. The analysis covers verbal communications, standardization via guidelines, education and training, electronic communications and marketing strategies. Traditional communication channels have not been successful in changing and sustaining best practice in IPC, but newer approaches (electronic messages and marketing) also have pitfalls. A few simple recommendations are made in relation to the development, implementation and evaluation of communications to HCWs; top-down vs bottom-up communications; and the involvement of HCWs, particularly ward personnel. Copyright © 2012 The Healthcare Infection Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF EXTERNAL MIXTURE FORMATION STRATEGY IN HYDROGEN-FUELED ENGINE

OpenAIRE

Mohammed Kamil; M. M. Rahman; Rosli A. Bakar

2011-01-01

Mohammed Kamil1, M. M. Rahman2 and Rosli A. Bakar2Hydrogen induction strategy in an internal combustion engine plays a vital role in increasing the power density and prohibiting combustion anomalies. This paper inspects the performance characteristics of cylinder hydrogen-fueled engine with port injection feeding strategy. To that end, a one-dimensional gas dynamic model has been built to represent the flow and heat transfer in the components of the engine. The governing equations are introdu...

An economic evaluation of preclinical testing strategies compared to the compulsory scrapie flock scheme in the control of classical scrapie.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lisa Boden

Full Text Available Cost-benefit is rarely combined with nonlinear dynamic models when evaluating control options for infectious diseases. The current strategy for scrapie in Great Britain requires that all genetically susceptible livestock in affected flocks be culled (Compulsory Scrapie Flock Scheme or CSFS. However, this results in the removal of many healthy sheep, and a recently developed pre-clinical test for scrapie now offers a strategy based on disease detection. We explore the flock level cost-effectiveness of scrapie control using a deterministic transmission model and industry estimates of costs associated with genotype testing, pre-clinical tests and the value of a sheep culled. Benefit was measured in terms of the reduction in the number of infected sheep sold on, compared to a baseline strategy of doing nothing, using Incremental Cost Effectiveness analysis to compare across strategies. As market data was not available for pre-clinical testing, a threshold analysis was used to set a unit-cost giving equal costs for CSFS and multiple pre-clinical testing (MT, one test each year for three consecutive years. Assuming a 40% within-flock proportion of susceptible genotypes and a test sensitivity of 90%, a single test (ST was cheaper but less effective than either the CSFS or MT strategies (30 infected-sales-averted over the lifetime of the average epidemic. The MT strategy was slightly less effective than the CSFS and would be a dominated strategy unless preclinical testing was cheaper than the threshold price of £6.28, but may be appropriate for flocks with particularly valuable livestock. Though the ST is not currently recommended, the proportion of susceptible genotypes in the national flock is likely to continue to decrease; this may eventually make it a cost-effective alternative to the MT or CSFS.

Statistical evaluation and measuring strategy for extremely small line shifts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hansen, P.G.

1978-01-01

For a measuring situation limited by counting statistics, but where the level of precision is such that possible systematic errors are a major concern, it is proposed to determine the position of a spectral line from a measured line segment by applying a bias correction to the centre of gravity of the segment. This procedure is statistically highly efficient and not sensitive to small errors in assumptions about the line shape. The counting strategy for an instrument that takes data point by point is also considered. It is shown that an optimum (''two-point'') strategy exists; a scan of the central part of the line is 68% efficient by this standard. (Auth.)

When Strategy Ends

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Vestenskov, David; Jørgensen, Lars Wille

2014-01-01

This chapter deals with the end of strategy, that is, conflict termination and how strategic achievements are measured and evaluated. It claims that the modern intervention of choice by NATO and its allies are transformation wars and challenges the concept of victory in such wars. Through a compa...

Strategies for continuous evaluation of the benefit-risk profile of HPV-16/18-AS04-adjuvanted vaccine.

Science.gov (United States)

Angelo, Maria-Genalin; Taylor, Sylvia; Struyf, Frank; Tavares Da Silva, Fernanda; Arellano, Felix; David, Marie-Pierre; Dubin, Gary; Rosillon, Dominique; Baril, Laurence

2014-11-01

The HPV types 16/18-AS04-adjuvanted cervical cancer vaccine, Cervarix(®) (HPV-16/18-vaccine, GlaxoSmithKline, Belgium) was first approved in 2007 and is licensed in 134 countries for the prevention of persistent infection, premalignant cervical lesions and cervical cancer caused by oncogenic HPV. Benefit-risk status requires continual re-evaluation as vaccine uptake increases, as the epidemiology of the disease evolves and as new information becomes available. This paper provides an example of benefit-risk considerations and risk-management planning. Evaluation of the benefit-risk of HPV-16/18-vaccine post-licensure includes studies with a range of designs in many countries and in collaboration with national public agencies and regulatory authorities. The strategy to assess benefit versus risk will continue to evolve and adapt to the changing HPV-16/18-vaccine market.

A Correlation Study between Motivation Orientations and Metacognitive Strategies in English Listening

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

余婷

2016-01-01

Based on learning motivation theory and metacognitive theory, the present study reports questionnaire surveys on cor-relation between motivation orientations and listening metacognitive strategies among 117 English majors. Findings suggest that:1) English majors are mainly stimulated by instrumental motivation and show bias towards planning and evaluation strate-gy in listening comprehension;2) there is a significant positive correlation between instrumental motivation and strategy of plan-ning and evaluation;3) significant difference between high motive group and low motive group only exists in planning and eval-uation strategy. Therefore, teachers are encouraged to help students strengthen the training of listening metacognitive strategies form long-lasting motivation and promote listening proficiency as well as self-learning ability.

The strategies of mass screen culture

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vorozheikin Yevhen Petrovich

2015-10-01

Full Text Available The article deals with strategies of mass screen culture aimed at manipulation with images of death and violence. The author highlights the main ways of implementation of these strategies, their relationship with contemporary cultural trends. Also the article observes negative consequences of such strategy as screen “anesthesia” of human feelings through transformation of images of death and violence in a way of exception of moral evaluation of the act of violence and death deprivation in metaphysical and existential sense.

Voyager 2 Uranus targeting strategy

Science.gov (United States)

Cesarone, R. J.; Gray, D. L.; Potts, C. L.; Francis, K.

1986-01-01

One of the major challenges involved in the Voyager 2 Uranus flyby is to deliver the spacecraft to an appropriate aimpoint at the optimum time, so as to maximize the science return of the mission, while yet keeping propellant expenditure low. An unusual targeting strategy has been devised to satisfy these requirements. Its complexity arises from the great distance of the planet Uranus and the limited performance capabilities of Voyager. This selected strategy is developed in relation to a set of candidate strategies, mission requirements and shifting science objectives. The analysis of these candidates is conducted via a Monte Carlo simulation, the results of which yield data for the comparative evaluation and eventual and selection of the actual targeting strategy to be employed.

GameTeen: new tools for evaluating and training emotional regulation strategies

OpenAIRE

Rodriguez Ortega, Alejandro; Rey, Beatriz; Alcañiz Raya, Mariano Luis; BAÑOS, R.; Guixeres Provinciale, Jaime; Wrzesien, Maja; Gómez Martínez, Mario; Pérez Lopez, David Clemente; Rasal, Paloma; Parra Vargas, Elena

2012-01-01

The aim of this paper is to describe GameTeen, a novel instrument for the assessment and training of Emotional Regulation (ER) strategies in adolescent population. These new tools are based on the use of 3D serious games that can be played under different settings. The evolution of ER strategies will be monitored in two ways depending on the setting where the tool is presented. Firstly, in the laboratory, physiological signals and facial expressions of participants will be recorded. Secondly,...

Co-brand strategy of evaluation of visual images in furniture design: Jimmy S.P.A. and STRAUSS as examples

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Tien-Li; Pan, Fang-Ming; Tsai, Jen-Hui

2013-03-01

This study aimed to investigate the correlation of the image associated by the design Co-Brand (Jimmy S.P.A. and STRAUSS) and the impression perceived by subject of viewers. Visual images were used to examine the merit of the evaluation. The best result is provided using an object as an appropriate evaluation method. There are a lot of factors which influence to evaluation of a design. This study is limited to distinguish the appearance from Jimmy's picture books transform furniture and so on. Co-Brand of Jimmy S.P.A. and STRAUSS is not easy because there are not from the same cultural, and industry background and applying different marketing strategy, it is a way to combine the two brands by designing, used questionnaire of SD (Semantic differential evaluation) evaluation method to test out the perception of viewers, the objective of this study is to investigate and appraised the Co-Brands use by of the image in furniture from patrons. SD evaluation result showed, if design cannot understand the perception image of Jimmy S.P.A and STRAUSS with viewers mind, furniture design also can't transmit feeling with design.

EVALUATION OF VARIOUS UNIPOLAR MULTICARRIER PWM STRATEGIES FOR FIVE LEVEL FLYING CAPACITOR INVERTER

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

B. SHANTHI

2012-06-01

Full Text Available This paper presents the comparison of unipolar multicarrier Pulse Width Modulation (PWM techniques for the Flying Capacitor Multi Level Inverter (FCMLI. Due to switch combination redundancies, there are certain degrees of freedom to generate the five level AC output voltage. This paper presents the use of Control Freedom Degree (CFD combination. The effectiveness of the PWM strategies developed using CFD are demonstrated by simulation and experimentation. The results indicate that the multilevel inverter triggered by the developed USHPWM strategy exhibits reduced harmonics. PWM strategies developed are implemented in real time using dSPACE/Real Time Interface (RTI. The simulation and experimental output closely match with each other validating the strategies presented.

Decommissioning strategy selection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Warnecke, E.

2005-01-01

At the end of their useful life nuclear facilities have to be decommissioned. The strategy selection on how to decommission a facility is a highly important decision at the very beginning of decommissioning planning. Basically, a facility may be subject to (a) immediate dismantling; (b) deferred dismantling after a period of ''safe enclosure'' or (c) entombment where a facility is turned into a near surface disposal facility. The first two strategies are normally applied. The third one may be accepted in countries without significant nuclear activities and hence without disposal facilities for radioactive waste. A large number of factors has to be taken into account when a decision on the decommissioning strategy is being made. Many of the factors cannot be quantified. They may be qualitative or subject to public opinion which may change with time. At present, a trend can be observed towards immediate dismantling of nuclear facilities, mainly because it is associated with less uncertainty, less local impact, a better public acceptance, and the availability of operational expertise and know how. A detailed evaluation of the various factors relevant to strategy selection and a few examples showing the situation regarding decommissioning strategy in a number of selected countries are presented in the following article. (orig.)

Production of ethanol 3G from Kappaphycus alvarezii: evaluation of different process strategies.

Science.gov (United States)

Hargreaves, Paulo Iiboshi; Barcelos, Carolina Araújo; da Costa, Antonio Carlos Augusto; Pereira, Nei

2013-04-01

This study evaluated the potential of Kappaphycus alvarezii as feedstock for ethanol production, i.e. ethanol 3G. First, aquatic biomass was subjected to a diluted acid pretreatment. This acid pretreatment generated two streams--a galactose-containing liquid fraction and a cellulose-containing solid fraction, which were investigated to determine their fermentability with the following strategies: a single-stream process (simultaneous saccharification and co-fermentation (SSCF) of both fractions altogether), which achieved 64.3 g L(-1) of ethanol, and a two-stream process (fractions were fermented separately), which resulted in 38 g L(-1) of ethanol from the liquid fraction and 53.0 g L(-1) from the simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) of the solid fraction. Based on the average fermentable carbohydrate concentration, it was possible to obtain 105 L of ethanol per ton of dry seaweed. These preliminaries results indicate that the use of the macro-algae K. alvarezii has a good potential feedstock for bioethanol production. Copyright © 2013. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Calibration, uncertainties and use of soybean crop simulation models for evaluating strategies to mitigate the effects of climate change in Southern Brazil

OpenAIRE

Rafael Battisti

2016-01-01

The water deficit is a major factor responsible for the soybean yield gap in Southern Brazil and tends to increase under climate change. Crop models are a tool that differ on levels of complexity and performance and can be used to evaluate strategies to manage crops, according the climate conditions. Based on that, the aims of this study were: to assess five soybean crop models and their ensemble; to evaluate the sensitivity of these models to systematic changes in climate; to assess soybean ...

Evaluation of alternative strategies to MERV 16-based air filtration systems for reduction of the risk of airborne spread of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus.

Science.gov (United States)

Dee, Scott; Pitkin, Andrea; Deen, John

2009-07-02

Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) is a re-emerging disease of pigs and a growing threat to the global swine industry. For sustainable disease control it is critical to prevent the airborne spread of the etiologic agent, PRRS virus, between pig populations. The application of MERV 16-based air filtration systems to swine facilities in an effort to reduce this risk has been proposed; however, due to the cost and air flow restrictions of such systems the need for alternative strategies has arisen. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate 3 groups of alternative biosecurity strategies for reducing the risk of the airborne spread of PRRSV. Strategies evaluated included mechanical filters, antimicrobial filters and a disinfectant-EVAP (evaporative cooling) system. Results from this study indicate that while alternatives to MERV 16-based biosecurity protocols for protecting farms from the airborne spread of PRRSV are available, further information on their efficacy in the field is needed before conclusions can be drawn.

Management strategy for site characterization at candidate HLW repository sites

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bartlett, J.W.

1988-01-01

This paper describes a management strategy for HLW repository site characterization which is aimed at producing an optimal characterization trajectory for site suitability and licensing evaluations. The core feature of the strategy is a matrix of alternative performance targets and alternative information-level targets which can be used to allocate and justify program effort. Strategies for work concerning evaluation of expected and disrupted repository performance are distinguished, and the need for issue closure criteria is discussed

Students' Scientific Epistemic Beliefs, Online Evaluative Standards, and Online Searching Strategies for Science Information: The Moderating Role of Cognitive Load Experience

Science.gov (United States)

Hsieh, Ya-Hui; Tsai, Chin-Chung

2014-01-01

The purpose of this study is to examine the moderating role of cognitive load experience between students' scientific epistemic beliefs and information commitments, which refer to online evaluative standards and online searching strategies. A total of 344 science-related major students participated in this study. Three questionnaires were…

A Framework Approach to Evaluate Cross-Cultural Adaptation of Public Engagement Strategies for Radioactive Waste Management - 13430

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hermann, Laura

2013-01-01

The complex interplay of politics, economics and culture undermines attempts to define universal best practices for public engagement in the management of nuclear materials. In the international context, communicators must rely on careful adaptation and creative execution to make standard communication techniques succeed in their local communities. Nuclear professionals need an approach to assess and adapt culturally specific public engagement strategies to meet the demands of their particular political, economic and social structures. Using participant interviews and public sources, the Potomac Communications Group reviewed country-specific examples of nuclear-related communication efforts to provide insight into a proposed approach. The review considered a spectrum of cultural dimensions related to diversity, authority, conformity, proximity and time. Comparisons help to identify cross-cultural influences of various public engagement tactics and to inform a framework for communicators. While not prescriptive in its application, the framework offers a way for communicators to assess the salience of outreach tactics in specific situations. The approach can guide communicators to evaluate and tailor engagement strategies to achieve localized public outreach goals. (authors)

A Framework Approach to Evaluate Cross-Cultural Adaptation of Public Engagement Strategies for Radioactive Waste Management - 13430

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hermann, Laura [Potomac Communications Group, 1133 20th St NW Washington DC 20035 (United States)

2013-07-01

The complex interplay of politics, economics and culture undermines attempts to define universal best practices for public engagement in the management of nuclear materials. In the international context, communicators must rely on careful adaptation and creative execution to make standard communication techniques succeed in their local communities. Nuclear professionals need an approach to assess and adapt culturally specific public engagement strategies to meet the demands of their particular political, economic and social structures. Using participant interviews and public sources, the Potomac Communications Group reviewed country-specific examples of nuclear-related communication efforts to provide insight into a proposed approach. The review considered a spectrum of cultural dimensions related to diversity, authority, conformity, proximity and time. Comparisons help to identify cross-cultural influences of various public engagement tactics and to inform a framework for communicators. While not prescriptive in its application, the framework offers a way for communicators to assess the salience of outreach tactics in specific situations. The approach can guide communicators to evaluate and tailor engagement strategies to achieve localized public outreach goals. (authors)

Individual-based and group-based occupational exposure assessment: some equations to evaluate different strategies.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Tielemans, E.; Kupper, L.L.; Kromhout, H.; Heederik, D.; Houba, R.

1998-01-01

Basically, two strategies can be considered for the analysis of hazardous pollutants in the work environment: group-based and individual-based strategies. This paper provides existing and recently derived equations for both strategies describing the influence of several factors on attenuation and on

Challenges in integrating shrot-term behaviour in a mixed-fishery Management Strategies Evaluation frame: a case study of the North Sea flatfish fishery

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Andersen, B.S.; Vermard, Y.; Ulrich, C.; Hutton, T.; Poos, J.J.

2010-01-01

This study presents a fleet-based bioeconomic simulation model to the international mixed flatfish fishery in the North Sea. The model uses a Management Strategies Evaluation framework including a discrete choice model accounting for short-term temporal changes in effort allocation across fisheries.

Women’s perspectives and experiences on screening for osteoporosis (Risk-stratified Osteoporosis Strategy Evaluation, ROSE)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rothmann, Mette Juel; Huniche, Lotte; Ammentorp, Jette

2014-01-01

main themes: knowledge about osteoporosis, psychological aspects of screening, and moral duty. The women viewed the program in the context of their everyday life and life trajectories. Age, lifestyle, and knowledge about osteoporosis were important to how women ascribed meaning to the program, how......This study aimed to investigate women's perspectives and experiences with screening for osteoporosis. Focus groups and individual interviews were conducted. Three main themes emerged: knowledge about osteoporosis, psychological aspects of screening, and moral duty. Generally, screening was accepted...... due to life experiences, self-perceived risk, and the preventive nature of screening. PURPOSE: The risk-stratified osteoporosis strategy evaluation (ROSE) study is a randomized prospective population-based trial investigating the efficacy of a screening program to prevent fractures in women aged 65...

Evaluation of Gene Modification Strategies for the Development of Low-Alcohol-Wine Yeasts

Science.gov (United States)

Kutyna, D. R.; Solomon, M. R.; Black, C. A.; Borneman, A.; Henschke, P. A.; Pretorius, I. S.; Chambers, P. J.

2012-01-01

Saccharomyces cerevisiae has evolved a highly efficient strategy for energy generation which maximizes ATP energy production from sugar. This adaptation enables efficient energy generation under anaerobic conditions and limits competition from other microorganisms by producing toxic metabolites, such as ethanol and CO2. Yeast fermentative and flavor capacity forms the biotechnological basis of a wide range of alcohol-containing beverages. Largely as a result of consumer demand for improved flavor, the alcohol content of some beverages like wine has increased. However, a global trend has recently emerged toward lowering the ethanol content of alcoholic beverages. One option for decreasing ethanol concentration is to use yeast strains able to divert some carbon away from ethanol production. In the case of wine, we have generated and evaluated a large number of gene modifications that were predicted, or known, to impact ethanol formation. Using the same yeast genetic background, 41 modifications were assessed. Enhancing glycerol production by increasing expression of the glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase gene, GPD1, was the most efficient strategy to lower ethanol concentration. However, additional modifications were needed to avoid negatively affecting wine quality. Two strains carrying several stable, chromosomally integrated modifications showed significantly lower ethanol production in fermenting grape juice. Strain AWRI2531 was able to decrease ethanol concentrations from 15.6% (vol/vol) to 13.2% (vol/vol), whereas AWRI2532 lowered ethanol content from 15.6% (vol/vol) to 12% (vol/vol) in both Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon juices. Both strains, however, produced high concentrations of acetaldehyde and acetoin, which negatively affect wine flavor. Further modifications of these strains allowed reduction of these metabolites. PMID:22729542

STRATEGI BISNIS PT. PARIWARA ADVERTISING DI INDUSTRI MEDIA LUAR RUANG DKI JAKARTA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mila Kumala

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The objective of the research is to analyze the internal and external condition of PT Pariwara advertising to formulate an appropriate strategy due to the company’s declining condition. This condition is caused by the implementation of Pergub No.1 tahun 2015 on the banning of cigarette and tobacco product advertisement in outdoor Medias.  The data is analyzed using internal factor evaluation (IFE, External Factor Evaluation (EFE, grand strategy matrix, SWOT and Quantitative Strategic Planning Matrix (QSPM.  The result of the research shows that the strategy priority during a stagnant condition is applying the concentric diversification strategy which adding new product that has the similar technology, join facilities, or distribution network with the current product.   Keywords: IFE, EFE, SWOT, grand strategy, QSPMAbstrakPenelitian ini bertujuan menganalisis kondisi internal dan eksternal PT. Pariwara Advertising untuk merumuskan strategi yang tepat ditengah kondisi perusahaan yang sedang menurun dan kondisi industri media luar ruang DKI Jakarta yang melemah karena diterapkannya Pergub No. 1 Tahun 2015 tentang  Larangan Penyelenggaraan Reklame Rokok dan Produk Tembakau pada Media Luar Ruang. Teknik analisis data menggunakan analisis internal factor evaluation (IFE, External Factor Evaluation (EFE, matriks strategi besar, matriks SWOT dan Quantitative Strategic Planning Matrix (QSPM. Hasil penelitian ini menunjukan prioritas strategi yang harus dilakukan di tengah kondisi industri yang stagnan adalah dengan strategi diverisifikasi konsentris yaitu strategi penambahan produk baru yang masih ada kaitannya dalam hal kesamaan teknologi, fasilitas bersama, atau jaringan pemasaran yang sama dengan produk yang ada saat ini.Kata kunci:  EFI, EFE, SWOT, strategi besar, QSPM

Retrospective Evaluation of a Restrictive Transfusion Strategy in Older Adults with Hip Fracture.

Science.gov (United States)

Zerah, Lorene; Dourthe, Lucile; Cohen-Bittan, Judith; Verny, Marc; Raux, Mathieu; Mézière, Anthony; Khiami, Frédéric; Tourette, Cendrine; Neri, Christian; Le Manach, Yannick; Riou, Bruno; Vallet, Hélène; Boddaert, Jacques

2018-04-20

To compare the association between a restrictive transfusion strategy and cardiovascular complications during hospitalization for hip fracture with the association between a liberal transfusion strategy and cardiovascular complications, accounting for all transfusions from the emergency department to postacute rehabilitation settings. Retrospective study. Perioperative geriatric care unit. All individuals aged 70 and older admitted to the emergency department for hip fracture and hospitalized in our perioperative geriatric care unit (N=667; n=193 in the liberal transfusion group, n=474 in the restrictive transfusion group) from July 2009 to April 2016. A restrictive transfusion strategy (hemoglobin level threshold ≥8 g/dL or symptoms) used from January 2012 to April 2016 was compared with the liberal transfusion strategy (hemoglobin level threshold ≥10 g/dL) used from July 2009 to December 2011. Primary endpoint was in-hospital acute cardiovascular complications (heart failure, myocardial infarction, atrial fibrillation or stroke). The change to a restrictive transfusion strategy was associated with fewer acute cardiovascular complications (odds ratio=0.45, 95% confidence interval (CI)=0.31-0.67, pstrategy, Pstrategy than the liberal transfusion strategy (18% vs 9%, Pstrategy in older adults with hip fracture was found to be safe and was associated with fewer cardiovascular complications but more transfusions in rehabilitation settings. Prospective studies are needed to confirm these findings. © 2018, Copyright the Authors Journal compilation © 2018, The American Geriatrics Society.

Spent nuclear fuel sampling strategy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bergmann, D.W.

1995-01-01

This report proposes a strategy for sampling the spent nuclear fuel (SNF) stored in the 105-K Basins (105-K East and 105-K West). This strategy will support decisions concerning the path forward SNF disposition efforts in the following areas: (1) SNF isolation activities such as repackaging/overpacking to a newly constructed staging facility; (2) conditioning processes for fuel stabilization; and (3) interim storage options. This strategy was developed without following the Data Quality Objective (DQO) methodology. It is, however, intended to augment the SNF project DQOS. The SNF sampling is derived by evaluating the current storage condition of the SNF and the factors that effected SNF corrosion/degradation

A novel strategy for evaluating the effects of an electronic test ordering alert message: Optimizing cardiac marker use

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jason M Baron

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Background: Laboratory ordering functions within computerized provider order entry (CPOE systems typically support the display of electronic alert messages to improve test utilization or implement new ordering policies. However, alert strategies have been shown to vary considerably in their success and the characteristics contributing to an alert′s success are poorly understood. Improved methodologies are needed to evaluate alerts and their mechanisms of action. Materials and Methods: Clinicians order inpatient and emergency department laboratory tests using our institutional CPOE system. We analyzed user interaction data captured by our CPOE system to evaluate how clinicians responded to an alert. We evaluated an alert designed to implement an institutional policy restricting the indications for ordering creatine kinase-MB (CKMB. Results: Within 2 months of alert implementation, CKMB-associated searches declined by 79% with a corresponding decline in CKMB orders. Furthermore, while prior to alert implementation, clinicians searching for CKMB ultimately ordered this test 99% of the time, following implementation, only 60% of CKMB searches ultimately led to CKMB test orders. This difference presumably represents clinicians who reconsidered the need for CKMB in response to the alert, demonstrating the alert′s just-in-time advisory capability. In addition, as clinicians repeatedly viewed the alert, there was a "dose-dependant" decrease in the fraction of searches without orders. This presumably reflects the alerting strategy′s long-term educational component, as clinicians aware of the new policy will not search for CKMB when not indicated. Conclusions: Our analytic approach provides insight into the mechanism of a CPOE alert and demonstrates that alerts may act through a combination of just-in-time advice and longer term education. Use of this approach when implementing alerts may prove useful to improve the success of a given alerting

Performance Assessment Strategy Plan for the Geologic Repository Program

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1990-01-01

Performance assessment is a major constituent of the program being conducted by the US Department of Energy (DOE) to develop a geologic repository. Performance assessment is the set of activities needed for quantitative evaluations to assess compliance with the performance requirements in the regulations for a geologic repository and to support the development of the repository. The strategy for these evaluations has been documented in the Performance Assessment Strategy Plan (DOE, 1989). The implementation of the performance assessment strategy is defined in this document. This paper discusses the scope and objectives of the implementation plan, the relationship of the plan to other program plans, summarizes the performance assessment areas and the integrated strategy of the performance assessment program. 1 fig., 3 tabs

Relationship Between Competitive Strategies and the Success Perception of Polish Born Globals

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Baranowska-Prokop Ewa

2014-09-01

Full Text Available The key objective of this paper is to describe and evaluate the competitive strategies applied by Polish born global enterprises. To reveal these strategies, two competitive models developed by M.E. Porter are applied to an original data set obtained from 256 small and medium Polish enterprises through a survey employing the CATI technique. The outcomes of these strategies, as perceived by the companies applying them, are also evaluated against two hypotheses. We conclude that Polish firms apply both basic strategies of competition, i.e. cost leadership strategies and differentiation strategies and that a substantial majority of companies perceive themselves to have succeeded on the market.

An evaluation of instructional strategies used in hiv/aids preventive ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

AIDS instructional strategies on JSS and SSS Students' knowledge, attitude and intentions about future sexual behaviour. Construct validity of the 12-item attitude scale was tested using factor analysis. Cronbach's alpha was utilised to determine ...

Performance of hedging strategies in interval models

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Roorda, Berend; Engwerda, Jacob; Schumacher, J.M.

2005-01-01

For a proper assessment of risks associated with the trading of derivatives, the performance of hedging strategies should be evaluated not only in the context of the idealized model that has served as the basis of strategy development, but also in the context of other models. In this paper we

Effectiveness of alternative management strategies in meeting conservation objectives

Science.gov (United States)

Richards S. Holthausen; Carolyn Hull Sieg

2007-01-01

This chapter evaluates how well various management strategies meet a variety of conservation objectives, summarizes their effectiveness in meeting objectives for rare or little-known (RLK) species, and proposes ways to combine strategies to meet overall conservation objectives. We address two broad categories of management strategies. Species approaches result in...

Abnormal Returns and Contrarian Strategies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ivana Dall'Agnol

2003-12-01

Full Text Available We test the hypothesis that strategies which are long on portfolios of looser stocks and short on portfolios of winner stocks generate abnormal returns in Brazil. This type of evidence for the US stock market was interpreted by The Bondt and Thaler (1985 as reflecting systematic evaluation mistakes caused by investors overreaction to news related to the firm performance. We found evidence of contrarian strategies profitability for horizons from 3 months to 3 years in a sample of stock returns from BOVESPA and SOMA from 1986 to 2000. The strategies are more profitable for shorter horizons. Therefore, there was no trace of the momentum effect found by Jagadeesh and Titman (1993 for the same horizons with US data. There are remaing unexplained positive returns for contrarian strategies after accounting for risk, size, and liquidity. We also found that the strategy profitability is reduced after the Real Plan, which suggests that the Brazilian stock market became more efficient after inflation stabilization.

Evaluation of the Strategy Management Implementation in Project- Oriented Service Organizations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Abolfazl Sherafat

2014-02-01

Full Text Available Although developing strategic and operational plans is a difficult and complicated process, their successful implementation is much more difficult. Many organizations fail in the full implementation of their strategies. This is not due to the partial definition of strategies and organization‘s operational plan, but this is likely due to the lack of strong framework for creating alignment between employees and operational process and the organizational goals. To implement strategies effectively and to develop a comprehensive management system and to improve the performance, Robert Kaplan and David Norton introduced a modern management system which is Balanced ScoreCard. Likewise they introduced five main criteria: leadership, translation, alignment, every day process and ongoing process for a strategy oriented organization. This paper is intended to offer a systematic approach for measuring the effectiveness and efficiency of the strategic plan performance. For this study the questionnaire was distributed in a project- orientated service organization and after collection, by the use of statistical. Analysis especially factor analysis the grouping of sub-criteria under the five main criteria was confirmed. The statistical analysis showed that, two criteria of alignment and every day work had the lowest scores in terms of both implementation and effectiveness in the organization‘s senior and executive manager‘s point of view. With deep interview, studying of scorecards and meeting of the strategic committee of the studied organization, the two dimension of alignment and every day work were further examined and after identifying upgradeable areas, some suggestions for improving the effectiveness and efficiency of the studied organization were presented.

Biobjective Optimization and Evaluation for Transit Signal Priority Strategies at Bus Stop-to-Stop Segment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rui Li

2016-01-01

Full Text Available This paper proposes a new optimization framework for the transit signal priority strategies in terms of green extension, red truncation, and phase insertion at the stop-to-stop segment of bus lines. The optimization objective is to minimize both passenger delay and the deviation from bus schedule simultaneously. The objective functions are defined with respect to the segment between bus stops, which can include the adjacent signalized intersections and downstream bus stops. The transit priority signal timing is optimized by using a biobjective optimization framework considering both the total delay at a segment and the delay deviation from the arrival schedules at bus stops. The proposed framework is evaluated using a VISSIM model calibrated with field traffic volume and traffic signal data of Caochangmen Boulevard in Nanjing, China. The optimized TSP-based phasing plans result in the reduced delay and improved reliability, compared with the non-TSP scenario under the different traffic flow conditions in the morning peak hour. The evaluation results indicate the promising performance of the proposed optimization framework in reducing the passenger delay and improving the bus schedule adherence for the urban transit system.

Zhodnocení marketingové strategie Ferrari

OpenAIRE

Fiala, Jakub

2009-01-01

The aim of this thesis is to evaluate marketing strategy of the Ferrari carmaker with consideration of the marketing specifics of luxury goods. The main tool used in the thesis is the situational analysis. The results are summarized in SWOT analysis, out of which the final evaluation is drawn.

Rationale, Implementation and Evaluation of Assistive Strategies for an Active Back-Support Exoskeleton

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stefano Toxiri

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Active exoskeletons are potentially more effective and versatile than passive ones, but designing them poses a number of additional challenges. An important open challenge in the field is associated to the assistive strategy, by which the actuation forces are modulated to the user’s needs during the physical activity. This paper addresses this challenge on an active exoskeleton prototype aimed at reducing compressive low-back loads, associated to risk of musculoskeletal injury during manual material handling (i.e., repeatedly lifting objects. An analysis of the biomechanics of the physical task reveals two key factors that determine low-back loads. For each factor, a suitable control strategy for the exoskeleton is implemented. The first strategy is based on user posture and modulates the assistance to support the wearer’s own upper body. The second one adapts to the mass of the lifted object and is a practical implementation of electromyographic control. A third strategy is devised as a generalized combination of the first two. With these strategies, the proposed exoskeleton can quickly adjust to different task conditions (which makes it versatile compared to using multiple, task-specific, devices as well as to individual preference (which promotes user acceptance. Additionally, the presented implementation is potentially applicable to more powerful exoskeletons, capable of generating larger forces. The different strategies are implemented on the exoskeleton and tested on 11 participants in an experiment reproducing the lifting task. The resulting data highlights that the strategies modulate the assistance as intended by design, i.e., they effectively adjust the commanded assistive torque during operation based on user posture and external mass. The experiment also provides evidence of significant reduction in muscular activity at the lumbar spine (around 30% associated to using the exoskeleton. The reduction is well in line with previous

Development and evaluation of a youth mental health community awareness campaign – The Compass Strategy

Science.gov (United States)

Wright, Annemarie; McGorry, Patrick D; Harris, Meredith G; Jorm, Anthony F; Pennell, Kerryn

2006-01-01

Background Early detection and treatment of mental disorders in adolescents and young adults can lead to better health outcomes. Mental health literacy is a key to early recognition and help seeking. Whilst a number of population health initiatives have attempted to improve mental health literacy, none to date have specifically targeted young people nor have they applied the rigorous standards of population health models now accepted as best practice in other health areas. This paper describes the outcomes from the application of a health promotion model to the development, implementation and evaluation of a community awareness campaign designed to improve mental health literacy and early help seeking amongst young people. Method The Compass Strategy was implemented in the western metropolitan Melbourne and Barwon regions of Victoria, Australia. The Precede-Proceed Model guided the population assessment, campaign strategy development and evaluation. The campaign included the use of multimedia, a website, and an information telephone service. Multiple levels of evaluation were conducted. This included a cross-sectional telephone survey of mental health literacy undertaken before and after 14 months of the campaign using a quasi-experimental design. Randomly selected independent samples of 600 young people aged 12–25 years from the experimental region and another 600 from a comparison region were interviewed at each time point. A series of binary logistic regression analyses were used to measure the association between a range of campaign outcome variables and the predictor variables of region and time. Results The program was judged to have an impact on the following variables, as indicated by significant region-by-time interaction effects (p awareness of mental health campaigns, self-identified depression, help for depression sought in the previous year, correct estimate of prevalence of mental health problems, increased awareness of suicide risk, and a reduction

Participatory Training Evaluation Method (PATEM) as a Collaborative Evaluation Capacity Building Strategy

Science.gov (United States)

Kuzmin, Alexey

2012-01-01

This article describes Participatory Training Evaluation Method (PATEM) of measuring participants' reaction to the training. PATEM provides rich information; allows to document evaluation findings; becomes organic part of the training that helps participants process their experience individually and as a group; makes sense to participants; is an…

[Teaching performance assessment in Public Health employing three different strategies].

Science.gov (United States)

Martínez-González, Adrián; Moreno-Altamirano, Laura; Ponce-Rosas, Efrén Raúl; Martínez-Franco, Adrián Israel; Urrutia-Aguilar, María Esther

2011-01-01

The educational system depends upon the quality and performance of their faculty and should therefore be process of continuous improvement. To assess the teaching performance of the Public Health professors, at the Faculty of Medicine, UNAM through three strategies. Justification study. The evaluation was conducted under a mediational model through three strategies: students' opinion assessment, self-assessment and students' academic achievement. We applied descriptive statistics, Student t test, ANOVA and Pearson correlation. Twenty professors were evaluated from the Public Health department, representing 57% of all them who teach the subject. The professor's performance was highly valued self-assessment compared with assessment of student opinion, was confirmed by statistical analysis the difference was significant. The difference amongst the three evaluation strategies became more evident between self-assessment and the scores obtained by students in their academic achievement. The integration of these three strategies offers a more complete view of the teacher's performance quality. Academic achievement appears to be a more objective strategy for teaching performance assessment than students' opinion and self-assessment.

Fight or buy? A comparison of internationalization strategies.

OpenAIRE

Roland Kirstein

2013-01-01

The paper evaluates three internationalization strategies of a company that considers invading a foreign market: • It can buy a firm that resides in the target market (acquisition strategy), • it can produce at home and export into the target market (export strategy), • or the two firms can agree upon produce in the invader's home country and sell the products in the target market (OEM strategy). For simplicity, we assume that the incumbent firm in the target country has a monopoly position. ...

A systematic review of primary prevention strategies for sexual violence perpetration.

Science.gov (United States)

DeGue, Sarah; Valle, Linda Anne; Holt, Melissa K; Massetti, Greta M; Matjasko, Jennifer L; Tharp, Andra Teten

2014-01-01

This systematic review examined 140 outcome evaluations of primary prevention strategies for sexual violence perpetration. The review had two goals: 1) to describe and assess the breadth, quality, and evolution of evaluation research in this area; and 2) to summarize the best available research evidence for sexual violence prevention practitioners by categorizing programs with regard to their evidence of effectiveness on sexual violence behavioral outcomes in a rigorous evaluation. The majority of sexual violence prevention strategies in the evaluation literature are brief, psycho-educational programs focused on increasing knowledge or changing attitudes, none of which have shown evidence of effectiveness on sexually violent behavior using a rigorous evaluation design. Based on evaluation studies included in the current review, only three primary prevention strategies have demonstrated significant effects on sexually violent behavior in a rigorous outcome evaluation: Safe Dates (Foshee et al., 2004); Shifting Boundaries (building-level intervention only, Taylor, Stein, Woods, Mumford, & Forum, 2011); and funding associated with the 1994 U.S. Violence Against Women Act (VAWA; Boba & Lilley, 2009). The dearth of effective prevention strategies available to date may reflect a lack of fit between the design of many of the existing programs and the principles of effective prevention identified by Nation et al. (2003).

A systematic review of primary prevention strategies for sexual violence perpetration☆

Science.gov (United States)

DeGue, Sarah; Valle, Linda Anne; Holt, Melissa K.; Massetti, Greta M.; Matjasko, Jennifer L.; Tharp, Andra Teten

2018-01-01

This systematic review examined 140 outcome evaluations of primary prevention strategies for sexual violence perpetration. The review had two goals: 1) to describe and assess the breadth, quality, and evolution of evaluation research in this area; and 2) to summarize the best available research evidence for sexual violence prevention practitioners by categorizing programs with regard to their evidence of effectiveness on sexual violence behavioral outcomes in a rigorous evaluation. The majority of sexual violence prevention strategies in the evaluation literature are brief, psycho-educational programs focused on increasing knowledge or changing attitudes, none of which have shown evidence of effectiveness on sexually violent behavior using a rigorous evaluation design. Based on evaluation studies included in the current review, only three primary prevention strategies have demonstrated significant effects on sexually violent behavior in a rigorous outcome evaluation: Safe Dates (Foshee et al., 2004); Shifting Boundaries (building-level intervention only, Taylor, Stein, Woods, Mumford, & Forum, 2011); and funding associated with the 1994 U.S. Violence Against Women Act (VAWA; Boba & Lilley, 2009). The dearth of effective prevention strategies available to date may reflect a lack of fit between the design of many of the existing programs and the principles of effective prevention identified by Nation et al. (2003). PMID:29606897

Designing a fuzzy expert system for selecting knowledge management strategy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ameneh Khadivar

2014-12-01

Full Text Available knowledge management strategy is mentioned as one of the most important success factors for implementing knowledge management. The KM strategy selection is a complex decision that requires consideration of several factors. For evaluation and selection of an appropriate knowledge management strategy in organizations, many factors must be considered. The identified factors and their impact on knowledge management strategy are inherently ambiguous. In this study, an overview of theoretical foundations of research regarding the different knowledge management strategies has been done And factors influencing the knowledge management strategy selection have been extracted from conceptual frameworks and models. How these factors influence the knowledge management strategy selection is extracted through the fuzzy Delphi. Next a fuzzy expert system for the selection of appropriate knowledge management strategy is designed with respect to factors that have an impact on knowledge management strategy. The factors which influence the selection of knowledge management strategy include: general business strategy, organizational structure, cultural factors, IT strategy, strategic human resource management, social level, the types of knowledge creation processes and release it. The factors which influence the knowledge management strategy selection include: business strategy general, organizational structure, cultural factors, IT strategy, human resource management strategies, socialization level, knowledge types and its creation and diffusion processes. According to identified factors which affect the knowledge management strategy, the final strategy is recommended based on the range of human-oriented and system-oriented by keep the balance of explicit and implicit knowledge. The Designed system performance is tested and evaluated by the information related to three Iranian organization.

Evaluation of mitigation strategies to reduce ammonia losses from slurry fertilisation on arable lands

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Carozzi, M., E-mail: marco.carozzi@unimi.it [University of Milan, Department of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, via Celoria 2, 20133 Milan (Italy); Ferrara, R.M.; Rana, G. [Consiglio per la Ricerca e sperimentazione in Agricoltura, Research Unit for Cropping Systems in Dry Environments, via C. Ulpiani, 5 – 70125 Bari (Italy); Acutis, M. [University of Milan, Department of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, via Celoria 2, 20133 Milan (Italy)

2013-04-01

To evaluate the best practices in reducing ammonia (NH{sub 3}) losses from fertilised arable lands, six field trials were carried out in three different locations in northern Italy. NH{sub 3} emissions from cattle slurry were estimated considering the spreading techniques and the field incorporation procedures. The measurements were performed using long term exposure samplers associated to the determination of the atmospheric turbulence and the use of the backward Lagrangian stochastic (bLS) model WindTrax. The results obtained indicate that the NH{sub 3} emission process was exhausted in the first 24–48 h after slurry spreading. The slurry incorporation technique was able to reduce the NH{sub 3} losses with respect to the surface spreading, where a contextual incorporation led to reductions up to 87%. However, the best abatement strategy for NH{sub 3} losses from slurry applications has proved to be the direct injection into the soil, with a reduction of about 95% with respect to the surface spreading. The results obtained highlight the strong dependence of the volatilisation phenomenon by soil and weather conditions. - Highlights: ► Ammonia emissions from land-application of slurry were quantified. ► We examined and compared six different agronomic treatments in three locations. ► The faster was the soil-incorporation of slurry, the lower was the ammonia loss. ► The direct injection of slurry was found to be the best abatement strategy. ► The environmental factors were able to strongly influence the ammonia emission.

Evaluation of a blood conservation strategy in the intensive care unit: a prospective, randomised study.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Mahdy, Saad

2009-06-01

Anemia is a common problem in the ICU population. Most patients are anemic at admission, their hemoglobin concentrations declining further thereafter. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of a combination strategy, involving closed arterial blood gas sampling and the use of pediatric vials for phlebotomy (Group A), on the sampling-induced blood loss and the rate of decline in hemoglobin in adult ICU patients. Combination (Group A) was compared to the current standard technique of arterial line sampling and adult vial phlebotomy (Group B) in a prospective, randomised, ethically-approved trial for the first 72 hours of their ICU stay. Peri-operative, oncology, coagulopathic and uremic patients were excluded. All other ICU patients with arterial cannulae and predicted to stay beyond 3 days, were enrolled.

Dynamic modeling and evaluation of solid oxide fuel cell - combined heat and power system operating strategies